Article: Lotus Quietly Forcing Migration away from cc:Mail

While many cc:Mail customers are still discussing cc:Mail database version 6 (DB6) to database version 8 (DB8) upgrades in preparation for the year 2000, a new question emerged in the press after the January Lotusphere 98 trade show in Lake Buena Vista Florida. Customers and analysts began to ask why cc:Mail customers should upgrade from cc:Mail DB6 to DB8 when, according to Lotus statements at Lotusphere 98, no new products would be built on the cc:Mail technology. Lotus critics have claimed that if there are no future versions of cc:Mail, other than product bug-fixes and minor point releases, then cc:Mail has been discontinued and will quickly become obsolete.

The words "no further development," used by Lotus President Jeff Papows during a Business Partner Q&A session, are not unlike the more traditional word "discontinued" which has usually been followed by words such as "obsolete," "incompatible," and "unsupported." Regardless of how eloquently the case may have been stated by Lotus executives and press relations staff, the harsh reality of "no further development" remains unmodified.

Most cc:Mail customers are still using the older DB6 technology, and there are compelling reasons to upgrade from DB6 to DB8 (Year 2000 compliance, 7x24 operation, and improved Internet standards support to name just three), however, Lotus new strategy forces cc:Mail customers to choose between upgrading to an already discontinued product and migrating away from cc:Mail.

Lotus' cc:Mail customers run the risk of being lulled into a false sense of security by the words "continued support" if they do not ask how helpful technical support and bug fixes will be when, at some point in the near future, cc:Mail is likely to be the only messaging technology that does not support emerging mainstream messaging functionality such as native HTML, S/MIME encryption, a full X.500/LDAP directory schema, or LDAPv3 replication.

Lotus cc:Mail customers will soon be unable to ignore the fact that e-mail client features such as native HTML support will be supported in Notes and Domino 5.0 but not in cc:Mail. Features like native HTML are likely to introduce incompatibilities between Notes and the soon-to-be-outdated cc:Mail products. Customers experienced with the Domino MTAs have described cc:Mail and Domino interoperability and problematic. Adding HTML to the Domino side in version 5.0 promises to make coexistence of Notes and cc:Mail more complicated in the future.

Also introduced at Lotusphere 98 was the R6D product, officially version 6.3 (a cc:Mail R6 client running against a Domino server). This new 16-bit Windows product is a questionable entry. R6D, which is a transitional tool for migration to Domino and temporary coexistence, is a 16-bit product based on the cc:Mail R6 interface and no 32-bit version is planned. It is Windows-only (no DOS, Mac, OS/2, or UNIX versions are planned); there will be no Mobile version; and like other cc:Mail products, no future versions of the R6D product are planned.

In terms of features, R6D will support cc:Mail Bulletin Boards on top of Domino Discussion Databases, type-down addressing (against the Domino Name and Address Book), and local cc:Mail Archive file viewing. However, the product does not support Rich Text or Notes/Domino doclinks and R6D, like other cc:Mail products, lacks native HTML support. HTML support in Notes signals a likely incompatibility between R6D and Notes 5.0.

R6D does not address Calendaring and Scheduling issues (C&S). For example, Lotus Organizer users on the cc:Mail side will still not be able to fully interoperate with Organizer users on the Notes side through R6D, or with Domino's native Calendaring and Scheduling capabilities.

Although the initial response to R6D was positive, some cc:Mail customers are confused by Lotus' introduction of R6D because the Notes 5.0 client will be able to access cc:Mail R8 post offices through POP3 and IMAP4 and through HTTP-based access to cc:Mail (cc:Web). Although it may provide a temporary solution for low-end workstations, R6D also makes the Lotus e-mail migration and coexistence landscape more complex and introduces new compatibility variables.

Based on Lotus' public statements, upgrading from cc:Mail R6 and below (DB6) to cc:Mail R6 and above (DB8), i.e., cc:Mail Version 8.x, would be building on an infrastructure that has no future. This means that most cc:Mail customers have to choose between continued investment in a cc:Mail infrastructure and putting the same resources into migration. Most customers are interested in the best return on investment and in most cases this will mean migration, despite the fact that the up-front cost may be higher.

In 1998, Lotus customers will be forced to take a hard look at their migration options. Every Lotus customer running cc:Mail DB6 technology has to either upgrade to DB8 or migrate before the year 2000. Customers cannot wait until 1999 to either start upgrading or migrating away from cc:Mail. Customers who made their plans before Lotusphere 98 are currently re-evaluating their options in light of Lotus' statements and related reports in the press.

Since Lotusphere '98, Lotus has promised new features in cc:Mail version 8.2, originally scheduled for release in Q1 '98. However, R8.2 never shipped and was replaced in Q2 by rumors of a cc:Mail R9 that would contain the features originally slated for R8.2. While changing the major version number of R8.2 might be good for PR R9, if it ever ships, is not likely to resolve any of the problems that Lotus messaging customers face.

The bottom line for most cc:Mail customers is that Lotus has effectively discontinued the cc:Mail product line and in most cases migration will take more than one year. This means that cc:Mail customers (most of whom are still running DB6) must choose between upgrading as a tactical move and migrating by mid 1998. Delaying often difficult and politically volatile messaging decisions too long can result in a situation where a customer will be forced to significantly increase investment in an existing cc:Mail infrastructures during 1999. If migration is inevitable, upgrading from cc:Mail DB6 to DB8 is the most costly alternative.

cc:Mail R6 and above (DB8) may be a valid interim step but given that there will be no new cc:Mail products, this only makes sense as part of an overall migration strategy. Most customers are looking at (1) Lotus Notes and Domino; (2) Netscape Messaging; (3) Microsoft Exchange; and (4) Novell GroupWise. By the year 2000 most cc:Mail customers are likely be either using or migrating to one of these messaging platforms.

Lotus intends for most cc:Mail customers to choose Domino as their next messaging platform and Lotus has put forth a pricing model that makes the Notes client affordable to cc:Mail customers who have maintenance contracts. New DB8-to-Domino migration tools and the latest Domino cc:Mail MTA (version 2.0) promise to bolster the Lotus cc:Mail-to-Domino migration once these products have matured.

However, Lotus critics and competitors are saying that most cc:Mail customers will not choose Domino. Lotus cc:Mail customers have expressed the concerns that they do not require an industrial-strength groupware infrastructure for e-mail, while others have suggested that they expect product quality issues and weak support of Domino because this is what they have experienced with cc:Mail.

As a result, cc:Mail customers not only have to brave the technical minefields of coexistence and migration but must also wade through a sea of conflicting claims, inflated version numbers, and media hype on their way to a critical decision that cannot be delayed.