Kathy Brown and I presented at the New England Lotus User Group last week. Here are the slides:

Thanks to NELotus for having us!

This is the session that John Beck and I gave at BLUG last week.

It is of no surprise to frequent readers of my blog that I am a proud gamer. You can still find me playing a game from time to time to relax. Be it Starcraft2, stupid games on Facebook, an old school copy of Bard's Tale on my ipad, or Gears of War 3 on my XBox 360 with my brother. Games are something I love. Why, because I am part of the generation that remembers and experienced the golden age of gaming first hand. I remember playing Bard's Tale on my Apple 2e. Opening Wasteland to find the manual of passages and swapping 5 1/4 floppies on my Apple 2GS. The days of Ultima, Wing Commander, Doom, and XCom. Buying a serial port joystick so I could play XWing and Tie Fighter. Enjoying the Sierra games of King's Quest and other great story driven games like Grim Fandago. Those days of where story and content mattered over graphics and speed are long gone.

Of course, thanks to GOG (Good Old Games), you can play many of these games on your PC today. As mentioned before, you can play Bard's Tale 1 on your iPad. If you missed these amazing games, you can still try them for the first time (or the 20th time as some for me). But I thought the days of playing new stories like these were gone. The World of Warcrafts, Madden, and Call of Duty franchises are fun, but not the same. Boy, was I wrong.

So about a month ago Double Fine, the game studio created by Tim Schaffer, started a project on Kickstarter.com to raise money for a new adventure game. They wanted to raise $400,000 in 30 days to fund the game and a documentary of the making of the game. How did they do?

$100 of that is from me. Not only will I get some great goodies from this, but I get to play a game that I have waited years to play. Let's remember, this is only the third one million plus kickstarter project. WOW.

Yesterday, my #1 game of all time, Wasteland, got it's own Kickstarter. Wasteland 2 needs $900,000 to make the game. Here is where it is as of the writing of this blog post:


Far more than $100 of my own money is part of this. I can not wait!!!!! At 1.2 million, they will do a OSX edition. at 1.5 million, they will do a linux version.

For those of you that do not know, Wasteland is what inspired the Fallout Series. Wasteland was the first sandbox game. I.CANNOT.&$^%ING.WAIT! If you love games, you can donate just $15 and get a copy of the game.

PSC Group is pleased to be hosting a broadcast of the IBM and Information Week "Masters of Collaboration" Event on March 14th, 2012. Our event will be in South Barrington, IL and will be from 11:15 AM to 3:30 PM. More about the event:

Every few years, advancements in technology and the evolution of business meet at the nexus of a cultural shift that fundamentally changes how business gets done. One of those moments is happening now – businesses are deploying exciting new collaborative tools to enable a more dynamic, increasingly mobile, and idea-laden workforce to create the new “social business.”
People – and their ideas – have become central to the business again. And these social computing tools are enabling enterprises to tap into the collective intellectual capital of their employees, as geographically dispersed people are now collaborating and sharing ideas more productively than ever before across intelligent, interconnected systems. By connecting people and accelerating decision-making, social collaboration helps people deepen relationships, generate and share new ideas faster, and increase their productivity. To ensure that this new way of working becomes part of the DNA of the organization, many companies are turning to end-to-end collaboration platforms and embedding social business tools throughout the enterprise.
In this multimedia event extravaganza, IBM and InformationWeek team up to present a series of globally-renowned experts speaking on key issues in their areas of expertise related to perfecting the social business. It all takes place within the framework of the latest in collaborative technologies to connect the experts with both a live audience and a virtual community.
With these events you’ll:
Learn about the latest in social business tools, including opportunities to engage in on-site product demos
Discover how the correlation of social capabilities with business success is increasingly evident as organizations create value by empowering “people networks”, at work and over the web
Network with other executive peers in the process of building their own social businesses and exchange ideas for institutionalizing these business-transforming processes
Develop best practices for overcoming obstacles to organization-wide collaboration, including change-management policies, governance, and security enablement
Discover ways to tap into the intellectual capital of the organization to promote increased business agility, innovation, and growth
Connect with PSC Group LLC on the topic of Social Business and Collaboration

After the broadcast portion of the event, there will be a live presentation by myself and John Beck:

Exclusive presentation for the Barrington Location ONLY!
PSC is also pleased to have an exclusive presentation from Lotusphere 2012. John Head, Director of Enterprise Collaboration and John Beck, Business Unit Executive, WW Notes & Domino Sales, IBM will give a live version of their Lotusphere 2012 session “IBM Lotus Notes/Domino Application Development Competitive Advantage : The Social Business Edition.” This session covers the competitive advantage that IBM XPages provides an organization with a long history of using IBM collaboration technology as well as how it can help organizations new to Social Business.

If you are interested in attending, please contact Tiffany Parotto at tparotto@psclistens.com or 847.969.8441 as this is an invite-only event. Hope to see you there

As much as I have tried to hide it and deny it, the past two years has professionally about my journey from technology consultant to business development. It has not been the smoothest transition. Heck, I even fought it for a year mentally. But last year was the turning point. I hit my stride, accepted my new role, and was able to turn connections into relationships. Last evening, as a great PSC Group event to celebrate and kick-off 2012, I was awarded with a very humbling award. The above photo is the end of a Louisville Slugger bat engraved with the PSC Big Hitter - 2011 award. I sold more than a million dollars in services last year. This happened even with two months of being sidetracked as I dealt with Dad's passing. Thanks to everyone at PSC Group who helped make this possible - especially Andrew, Rick, John and all of the kick ass consultants who worked on the projects I closed. I am surrounded by one of the best groups of technologists in the business. They make the ideas that I sell happen. Here is to a great 2012 and reaching for the next milestone!

PSC Group is very excited to announce that our team has grown by one, Our collaboration team is expanding and we needed a Boston area resource for some killer XPages, Notes, and mobile development. It's a pleasure to announce that we are lucky that Kathy Brown has agreed to join us to fill that role. For those in the Lotus community, she needs no introduction. For those not, Kathy is an active member of the community, frequent speaker at Lotusphere and other Lotus User Groups, Blackberry developer and co-host of BlackBerry Today. She is a proud NerdGirl and of course known for her daily running and unmatched twitter skills. Please welcome Kathy to PSC over on her blog. Welcome Kathy!

I have previous mentioned the Project Risk Profiler application that we built for iPhone last year. We use the application as part of our Information Command and Control seminars and as a demonstration tool. One of our Microsoft practice developers, Tim Murphy, built a version of the Project Risk Profiler for Windows Phone.



You can find in the Windows Phone Marketplace. Awesome work Tim!

The above thought has been on my mind since the middle of December but I have not figured out how to blog about it until recently. Let's start with a public comment from Ed Brill's blog:

14  Erik Brooks  | 1/26/2012 11:46:38 AM

@Ed - I actually *did* know. I'd still like to hear the reasons why this direction was chosen, because it's eyebrow-raising.

My apologies to Erik (didn't go out of my way to call you out Mr. Brooks, your comment was just the easiest one to find) but this is exactly what I mean when I ask 'Why does the Domino community have a "Domino or nothing" mentality?

First off, I get why people love Domino so much. Hell, I am one of those people. It's easy to install, easy to administer, and in basic use is easy to maintain. You can ramp Domino up to enterprise levels with clustering and lots of other great features. You can turn on DAOS and get incredible results of disk saving. You can install Traveler, which folks like Andrew Pollack call one of the best Domino feature ever. "It just works" is a saying that makes us all proud because it invokes thoughts of other amazing technology.

But for everyone of those features above, I read about how we want to pick it apart. When DAOS was first announced, people wanted to know how to use the C API to get access to the attachments on disk. The statement of 'you don't need to worry about the attachments, we just abstract it and it looks like ODS and NSF to you' was pushed for more info. The fact that Traveler is using the Apache Derby database (what Erik is referencing above) to provide a killer solution makes us all cringe and want to know what the conspiracy is. Yes, we all want a clustered version of Traveler, but should we really care how they do it?

I compare this to the other technology teams at PSC. Our Microsoft team covers SharePoint and .NET development. Of course, they are strong proponents of Microsoft technology, but when they get a new version of Microsoft tech, they really don't worry about if this version changes the tech underneath unless it effects our customer and their projects. Our enterprise team is even more flexible. Move from PHP to Python? Sure. Be flexible in JavaScript toolkits from sencha to jquery to dojo? Why not. Even our mobile developers move from iOS to Android to Windows Phone OS with very little issue or comment.

I remember the comments at Meet the Developers this year at Lotusphere 2012 where Domino was used as the standard that WebSphere installation and administration should strive to achieve. I get that. I agree. But I think that the Domino community can also be far more open minded to letting IBM use technology to extend the Domino product line as long as it within the awesome model we have today. Embracing new technology is not a bad thing. WebSphere is not a bad thing. Having some great technology like Apache Derby used in Domino to make a kick ass product like Traveler should be embraced and encouraged and should not lead to eyebrow-raising.

At Lotusphere2012, IBM made a pretty big announcements around Lotus Symphony. Let's cover them in order of significance, starting with smallest first.

IBM Lotus Symphony 3.0.1 ships



Some great new features like the Speakers View and the one million row support make this a great point release. Not sure if there will be an overlay install for the Notes client but working on that.

IBM LotusLive Symphony morphs into IBM Docs



IBM showed off the newly renamed IBM Docs, now in beta on Greenhouse. If you have used web-based editors like Google Docs and Office 365, this will feel a bit familiar. The integration with IBM Smart Cloud Engage / Connections is impressive. But what really got notice was when they demoed a web editor for creating macros inside the web document editors. The demo was a spreadsheet with a button that inserted data and did formatting. The demo was impressive, but the fact the macro language was javascript was even more so. The timeline for release seems summer for the cloud product with on-premises deployments by the end of the year. Even  John C. Dvorak, who rarely writes about IBM, wrote the The Imminent Word Processing Bloodbath covering Google Docs vs. Microsoft 365 and IBM Docs. He missed a bit of the timeline and did not mention Lotus Symphony at well, but I think he captured the coming web editor battle pretty well.

Lotus Symphony Viewers for both iOS and Android are now available

Both of these have been avialable since December, but they got a lot of attention at the show. I was pleasantly suprized that after I downloaded the Symphony viewers to my iPad, I was able to download and open my Speedgeeking presentation and use that for the 12 5 minute pitches on OpenNTF.org. Impressive.

IBM announces full support for Apache OpenOffice.org ... and the end of Lotus Symphony as we know it



The big news at Lotusphere was that IBM is going to stop developing a stand-alone product known as Lotus Symphony and shift all of the developers to Apache OpenOffice.org. They are working on Apache OpenOffice.org 3.4 and bringing over as much of the Lotus Symphony changes and development back into the core OpenOffice.org code. But the real focus is on Apache OpenOffice.org 4.0, which will get the user interface enhancements that IBM made in the Symphony product. Here is a sample image of what Apache OpenOffice.org might look like:



As you can see, I highlighted the Symphony sidebar and panel selection vertical stripe that has been added to the traditional OpenOffice.org user interface. I am sure this will change quite a bit before the release later this year (or next) but its a hint at what is to come.

What does this mean for Lotus Symphony? We just got 3.0.1 and I believe except for fix packs for bugs and any security issues that come out, we have seen the last version of Symphony. IBM Lotus Notes 8.5.X will still have an embedded version of Lotus Symphony, but no one at IBM would commit to a future version of the product having a bundled productivity editor. The main reason is that Lotus Symphony was built on top of Eclipse.org and Lotus Expeditor, and that framework is not moving forward with Apache OpenOffice.org.

I asked IBM about the future and one of the things they expect is to have an Apache OpenOffice.org IBM Edition in the Apache OpenOffice.org 4.0 timeframe. The IBM edition will include the base product and plug-ins that provide integration to IBM Connections and IBM SmartCloud. It will also be supported by IBM in some fashion, like Lotus Symphony is supported for Notes customers today. The details are not worked out, but IBM's intention is to include the entire Apache OpenOffice.org product in this package and only add to the product via plug-ins.

So what is the impact of this change? A few thoughts ...

1. IBM is going to save a bunch of money by not having to import bug fixes and changes from open source project. They are going to work directly on the code branch. They will have less control of what makes a release, as the community selects features as they are checked in.
2. IBM has hired five of the original StarOffice employees who were at Sun and then were Oracle employees. Having some of the original blood as part of the IBM team is a great thing.
3. The Lotus Symphony embedded edition is pretty much dead man walking. It won't go away until we get a new version of Notes (something like a Notes 9 which no one has announced), but if you are building Eclipse plug-ins that integrate with Notes and Symphony, stop. They aren't the way forward.
4. We finally got developer nirvana with the Lotus Symphony LotusScript APIs .. but those don't work with the stand-alone version. It would be great if IBM allowed us to use preferences to point to the external version of Symphony for use with the APIs. That would be a great 8.5.4 feature to bridge the upcoming gap.
5. I think this puts Symphony development and integration on a year long hiatus. Why would you invest in something that might not work next year? I realize that is not a huge community and body of work, but it was a great tool.

Open Questions:

1. What is the plan for the Lotus Symphony LotusScript and Java API that we use with the embedded version of Lotus Symphony? Apache OpenOffice.org does not have a very user friendly API today. It uses the UNO (Universal Network Objects) API. I have demoed code that allows Notes to talk to UNO via LotusScript, and it is damn ugly. Apache OpenOffice.org does not have a COM API today and does not register itself as an OLE object. Will IBM work to make the API's work going forward? Enable COM and OLE within Apache OpenOffice.org itself? Let's hope so.
2. IBM Docs is getting a new javascript macro language. Will that work in a future version of Apache OpenOffice.org? What happens when I open that document that I export in Microsoft Office using their ODF document filters? Coexistence needs to be figured out and demonstrated.
3. Will IBM Docs become an document automation server or is it just a consumer tool? Can I use IBM Docs with a web service and do truely headless cloud based document generation? That is where I want to see this go.

Final Thoughts

Overall I am excited and supportive of this direction. IBM Docs is an exciting product and having IBM put full support behind Apache OpenOffice.org is good for the community in the long term. There are a lot of open questions. A developers roadmap that includes this new IBM Docs javascript API and the existing IBM Symphony Java and LotusScript APIs and the very flexible yet ugly UNO APIs. I hope IBM shows leadership and does some dramatic work here. I will show my support of IBM in a couple ways in the coming week. Look for more.

(as you can tell, I heavily borrowed Ed Brill's screens from his IBM - Lotusphere 2012: Messaging and Collaboration Strategy slides on Slideshare.com. I could not find any other published references at this point. Thanks Ed.)

We are very honored to have been included in the Lotusphere2012 Opening General Session presentation when Kevin and Doug talked about XPages.

You can get the Getting Started Database Here

Lotusphere 2012 is here soon and you can find me doing the following sessions:

JMP304 Master Class: Integration in the world of Social Business
Speakers: Andrew Barickman, John Head
DL S. Hem IV -V - Sunday  10:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Integration has remained a key skill in the Domino Developer toolkit since 1994. 18 years later, the Integration skillset comes to a head with the ideals of Social Business: modern web interface, social interactions, and mobile delivery. This session builds on top of the integration sessions of the past and highlights the master skills needed today. We will show how to integrate Lotus Notes, Lotus Domino, Domino XPages, and LotusLive applications with the tools on your users' machines spanning Microsoft Office, Microsoft .NET custom applications, Lotus Symphony, and more. We will examine how the ODF and OOXML standards are changing the integration story and bring integration to the web and mobile devices. Social interactions drive applications in a social business world and we will highlight how they fit when multiple integrations take place. This session will focus on how to build advanced integration that drives innovation and provides the best experience for your users.

BP107 IBM Lotus Notes/Domino Application Development Competitive Advantage : The Social Business Edition
Speakers: John Head, John Beck
DL S. Hem II - Thursday  08:30 AM - 09:30 AM

Some organizations are neglecting or under-utilizing one of the greatest IT assets in their portfolio today - the Notes/Domino application platform. Some are even considering re-coding Domino applications in other languages and development tools. In this session we present the business case and technical merits of Notes and Domino in direct comparison to other tools such as Microsoft SharePoint. We will put application migration and new application development head to head. Based on data collected from real-world engagements we will demonstrate the positive return on investment of the Notes platform. We will also discuss an application modernization strategy and how it helps move customers from merely maintaining Notes applications to increasing their value with Domino XPages and advanced collaboration functionality. If your organization is considering a migration or is under using your Notes/Domino investment, this session is for you.

I will also be speaking about OpenNTF.org at SpeedGeeking:

GEEK101 SpeedGeeking! (web link)
Speaker:
DL Pacific Hall - Tuesday  06:15 PM - 07:30 PM

SpeedGeeking is back and promises to be as fun, loud, chaotic, and highly informational as ever. Enjoy jumping from one station to the next, while stopwatches, buzzers, and a loud-mouthed emcee keeps things fast-paced and on track!

See everyone at Lotusphere 2012!

I am very happy that 2012 is here. I don't know about many of you, but 2011 is a year I am glad to put behind me. Professionally, 2011 was amazing. Speaking at Lotusphere 2011, BLUG, UKLUG, IamLUG, and MWLUG on topics that were brand new for me. 2011 was also the year I fully embraced that I am in a sales role, not a delivery role. It has been a difficult mental transition but the results were pretty amazing. It was also the year I fully detached myself from any software brand loyalty war. I have clients equally on both the IBM and Microsoft sides and working to add in new clients in areas I have not been hands-on with delivery. PSC grew quite a bit last year, with over 20 hires in our Schaumburg branch - and equally in all areas. Our collaboration team is working on what many inside IBM consider to be the largest XPages project undertaken to date. Can't wait until we are further along so we can begin to show some of the highlights of what we are doing.

Of course, 2011 will be remembered as the year my father passed away. So much of 2011 is painted with his passing. Firsts like his birthday, my birthday, and all the holidays with him not here. I am glad to be moving past much of the emotional pieces and into a new year. It's time to remember Dad but not let it be the leading factor in everything that happens in my world.

So Happy New Year everyone. May 2012 be the best year for all of us.