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FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
As we prepare for Lotusphere, IBM's market share grows
By David Gewirtz
Every year, we mark the tradition of Lotusphere. For those of us who've been there nearly every year since it began (I missed the year I got married), Lotusphere isn't just a business gathering, it's an annual chance to see some of our favorite people. Lotusphere is also a chance to be inspired and it's where we go to test the waters, to get a feel for how the overall Lotus market is doing.
More organizations
This year, IBM has some good news to announce. IBM today announced that the number of global Lotus Notes licenses has reached 145 million, including purchases by many industry leaders exchanging Microsoft licenses for Lotus collaboration software.
Over the past 15 months ending in the third quarter of 2008, more than 12,000 new organizations bought their first Notes/Domino licenses, and more than half of the Fortune global 100 now use Lotus Notes and Domino. This includes more than 80 percent of the largest banks, consumer product, electronics, insurance, pharmaceutical and telecommunications companies - as well as more than 50 percent of America's largest 100 companies.
Let's be clear here. IBM has seen a market share growth for Notes in what's probably the worst economic storm we've seen in years. While other markets are crying out for help, the Notes market has remained strong and vibrant.
Quarterly growth
Driven by sales of Notes and Domino, IBM has reported consecutive quarterly growth for its Lotus collaboration software brand for four years through the third quarter of 2008, its last reported quarter, with much of it coming at Microsoft's expense. Lotus has averaged double-digit growth over the first three quarters of 2008. While marketshare estimates vary, Gartner Dataquest's most recent report from 2008 indicates a 40 percent share worldwide for Lotus Notes, compared to Microsoft's 48 percent for Exchange, a narrowing gap.
Now, of course, IBM isn't reporting Q4 - and Q4 has been a crazy quarter. But, even so, throughout the first three quarters of 2008, most business experienced some challenge, but our market is remaining remarkably strong. It says a lot not only for IBM's offerings, but for each of you, adding value to their products.
Pushing back Exchange
IBM reports that a number of customers that Microsoft had previously announced would migrate to Exchange are now stalling or abandoning those plans. These organizations recognize the higher cost of potential migration to the competing product and the benefits of deploying Notes/Domino 8 through 8.5 versions. In some cases, the cost of upgrading Notes/Domino has shown to be 20 percent or less of what companies were projecting for migration costs to Exchange.
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