DAMO demo provides a list of reason to go Lotus

Must be careful, clients now read this :-)
So I am doing my DAMO demo and in all honesty, why would someone still say they prefer Outlook?

After seeing a Notes R8 client, in this case 801, and an Office 2003 Outlook client running DAMO (which the R7 DAMO runs on currently as I eagerly await the beta of Damo FOR R8 for Vista/Office 2007) how could one sit there and still think Outlook is superior.

Sure, I am biased, but really, can Outlook:
1) go modular? Notes R8 standard client can if you click on the drop down of a sidebar option and select open in new window. My favorite function. Why is this important to me? Because sometimes I want the item seen while mail is minimized.

2) Stop adding tons of tabs to my screen for every task? Notes has had a tabbed interface sine R5(I believe) and even Microsoft finally gave in that it was a better choice, just look at IE7.

3) Do anything beyond email? Enough said.

4) Can you open a browser from WITHIN Outlook so you don't have to go out to another screen/browser? I can in Notes clients since R4 which is going on 10 years ago!

5) Provide an ROI out of the box? Notes can and has! Now with R8 the client does make life easier, no longer do I need to open extra applications, multiple sites or services, they all can run from within my Notes client, perfectly happy and waiting for my time of need. Need to look up a client's info, invoice someone, forward pricing or look it up, I can do it all from one client license fee.

6) Create a spreadsheet or presentation or contract on the fly? With the built in Symphony suite I can. In fact, if you had configured it years ago, even in the time of Office 2000 you could do this from within a Notes client or application without looking for your icons. OK, some poeple who know how to edit their toolbars could have done this, but few ever did which is why Microsoft created that mini toolbar that floats on top of everything.

From the "about this database" of the Office Library found in Notes clients.
What does this database do?
This database gives Notes users the ability to seamlessly create and save documents using Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Paintbrush, without leaving Notes.

Is there more? Sure, but this will keep you going for a little while.

Evangelism is fun, especially within your own organization.

So few people ever think out of the box, and now there is a software communication client that allows one to stay in the box.

The Opening Session and Bluehouse vs. Foundations

Caution: This is my perception of the announcements and if I am wrong, please let me know.
I am writing this as a Business Partner(BP) thinking and customer 2nd.
Good stuff smushed up at the end which should have been reversed and more time spent on them, and um, less on portal server(IMHO).
Not that the other parts were not great either, 801 has some great pieces added, widgets, conference number in meeting, the ability to create an on the fly sametime meeting(no idea if you need advanced server for it), 8.5 domino premiers and has cool designer usage, the DWA advances which make it look like the Standard R8 client, including widgets/quickr/sametime and then the 'lightweight" on bandwidth and processing which is a HUGE bonus. Can't wait for it or 801!

Now the Foundation is another story. I went in search of IBMers in the know, well they were at the stand, and the discussion ensued about using this mini server running Linux and Domino which is supposed ot replace an SMB MS small business server. Now maybe it will and maybe it won't. I fail to see, aside from the obvious move from MS, why eithwer a client would want this or why I as a BP would want to install it.
It is NOT a hosted solution, so I was told, but is meant to be onsite, naturally because of the file/print functions of the Linux server. It can do much more so it is an interesting idea as i said in theory.
If the ONLY reason is to get people off windows, well, perhaps this is an answer. Will let you know after I demo it since they promised to add me and one of my clients to play with it.

Bluehouse was also confusing to me, as a BP that is. IBM wants to host "something"(the ibmers at the stand words) and not just any infrastrcuture app like Domino, Quickr, Sametime or Connections.
OK, so what will it host? Some suggested a salesforce.com similarity, maybe, not sure.
As a BP, my question is..where is the money? IBM hosts it, and the app and manages the solution and probably the client, so what do we as BPs get from it?
I am looking into more on this as Ed pointed out in his blog:

"The notion of software-as-a-service has become more dominant in the industry, and today IBM is announcing Lotus "Bluehouse" (codename), to provide extranet collaboration tools. "Bluehouse" expands on IBM's introduction of Sametime Unyte, a hosted e-meetings service, which is now incorporated into the "Bluehouse" environment. "

So now it is semi-Sametime like and some yet to be determined other code.
OK, it's in beta, cut it some slack, but I was left pondering what to do with it and why we would use it over the existing SaaS moddel for products(aside from cost) or who will do the application development and get comped or who will keep the intelectual capital created as an application.

Or as Alan says it in his blog which sounds like Quickr, which depending on how you view hosted(Quickr is a web based solution so in my mind it is/can be a hosted solution, licensing notwithstanding) applications is more confusing to me.

But I look forward to more details to come out on both of these as they are in line with my business plans for the year so maybe IBM IS on to something, but the fog needs to get lifted a little.