The main differentiator is Quickr runs on multiple architectures and uses open standards like Atom Protocol, while SharePoint is deeply integrated with Microsoft Office products and with Exchange. In practice, Microsoft is making it easy for Office users to set up and use Windows SharePoint Services, the version of SharePoint that's a free component of Windows Server 2003 and 2008. Once IT users learn to collaborate on projects using SharePoint, it becomes the de facto standard for document sharing and collaboration.

David: Do you feel that SharePoint is becoming a growing concern for Lotus-oriented shops?

Philippe: Absolutely. Given the widespread use of Office on the desktop, SharePoint is emerging in almost all organizations, even those that use Lotus Notes and Domino. In fact, it's very likely that most DominoPower readers have end users clamoring for IT to support SharePoint's collaboration capabilities.

David: I understand that Mainsoft offers SharePoint integration software and solutions for Lotus Notes. Before we discuss that, what other options are available to Notes customers that have existing SharePoint collaboration sites?

Philippe: One option is to migrate to a single vendor and technology platform. In this case, Lotus Notes is removed in favor of Outlook 2007, and collaborative applications from Notes and Domino are re-created using Microsoft technologies, such as SharePoint.

There's also the default option, which is a "do nothing" strategy. In this case, enterprise IT attempts to maintain two partially-compatible infrastructures indefinitely. We think this option is simply delaying the decision, because the issue will need to be resolved sooner or later.

Users are not happy with the status quo, and they are much less productive bridging the divide between Notes and SharePoint themselves.

David: What are the costs/issues associated with a migration strategy? What's involved in migrating to SharePoint?

Philippe: It's very expensive to migrate from Notes and Domino to Microsoft. Licensing costs are generally less than 20% of the overall cost, once you consider the total migration costs, such as re-training IT staff, hiring of consultants, and acquiring new hardware. But even these costs pale in comparison to the cost of migrating hundreds or thousands of custom applications from Notes to SharePoint, with all of the re-specification, re-scoping, and re-development efforts involved.

Another issue is the fact that a migration delivers a questionable ROI. Microsoft's and IBM's product portfolios do pretty much the same things. And while a migration gets you past the Microsoft/IBM battle, there is a huge opportunity cost in terms of corporate IT being tied up in migration work for years rather than working on projects that align IT with business processes.

You also have to consider the fact that shifting to a single vendor for messaging and collaboration ties you to the strategic dictates of the vendor that you select. One of the biggest complaints about Microsoft is its habit of forcing organizations into upgrading many products, and the poor backwards compatibility these upgrades deliver. For instance, organizations that want Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 have no choice but to deploy it on 64-bit hardware.