Although still a new concept to many, groupware is rapidly becoming the golden child of enterprise computing, and the race is on to see who will be the first to reach the Himalayan heights this new technology promises.

With the release of Notes and Domino R5 on March 31 (more or less on time), Lotus has temporarily taken a definite lead in the collaborative software race. Although the original GA release of Domino R5 didn’t include the AS/400, I received the GA version of R5 for our Model 170 on May 17, much sooner than is usual for applications developed for multiple platforms (NT; Sun’s Solaris; IBM’s OS/2, S/390, AIX; Hewlett-Packard’s HPUX; and even MacPowerPC7.6). Lotus has obviously shown its support for the AS/400 platform by getting a GA version out just six weeks after the initial offering.

Notes/Domino R5 Doesn’t Disappoint

Although Notes/Domino R5 is the first major Notes/Domino upgrade in more than a year, the wait has been well worth it. While most of Lotus’ competitors have incremented their release versions during the last year, Lotus has focused on addressing feedback about several beta releases of R5, and the stubborn concentration on freeing R5 of all bugs and inelegant interfaces has paid off. Not only is the new Notes client simpler to set up than its predecessor, but its appearance has changed dramatically as well. One of my pet peeves with Notes 4.6x was its drab look and limited customization. R5 features some slick graphics with a Web-centric user interface featuring a browser-like feel that works for both Notes and Web documents. I think the most important aspect of Domino R5 is its transformation from a powerful workflow and messaging server into a full-fledged enterprise Web application server. Domino also now serves Java applets (created in Domino Designer) to Web clients, thus providing clients with a lot of Notes functionality without the bother of Notes installation and training—a definite advantage in the groupware arena. It looks like Lotus Domino has, in one fell swoop, pulled ahead of both Microsoft Exchange and Novell GroupWise. Lotus has also issued a strong challenge to Microsoft and Novell with a new Notes R5 client that includes not only the traditional collaborative tools (email, calendaring, scheduling) but also Web surfing with both external and internal search capabilities.

Microsoft and Novell Are in the Chase

How long Lotus can maintain its lead in collaborative software is uncertain, though. On May 19, Bill Gates, addressing more than 100 of his peers at a Microsoft CEO summit, revealed his vision of the future of collaborative software. His plan calls for removal of the traditional corporate barriers to knowledge sharing. In this model, which he calls a “digital dashboard,” knowledge workers can go to a single place to access all information, whether personal or internal (email, schedules, tasks) or external (corporate, sales, customer).

While the future of Exchange server is closely linked to Microsoft’s frenetic desire to get Windows 2000 to the public in a GA version as soon as possible (I predict it will be delivered four to six months later than the stated end-of-year release), Gates obviously hasn’t forgotten about groupware challengers Lotus and Novell. At the CEO summit, he put lots of emphasis on mobile computing, probably because Windows CE is the operating system of choice for most wireless devices. Although videoconferencing, wireless email, and intranet technology are Microsoft’s strong suits, the company has yet to convince corporate CEOs that investing in these new technologies will produce a return on investment (ROI) in collaborative knowledge creation and management that will justify the initial costs, especially in employee education.

Of course, a paradigm shift to wireless communications may overwhelm many knowledge workers and could backfire if the corporate culture isn’t flexible enough to change with the technology. Anyway, Microsoft promises to deliver the next generation of the Exchange server, code-named Platinum, in the near future. Platinum will presumably have many of the same features as Domino R5, but because Windows 2000 is a prerequisite to running Platinum, don’t look for a GA version until we’re well into the new millennium. By that time, Lotus could have an insurmountable lead in collaborative Webcentric software. Then again, one can never count Microsoft out.

While Lotus is producing the goods and Microsoft is promising the goods, Novell is quietly gaining industry support for rock-solid products. Many Novell networks have never experienced the kind of crashes common to NT. Recently, NetWare 5, BorderManager 3.0, and GroupWise 5.5 received new product awards at the NetWorld+Interop conference in Las Vegas. Although a smaller player in the groupware field than Lotus or Microsoft, Novell has gone to great lengths to satisfy its customers, and most I’ve talked to are happy with the results GroupWise 5.5 has produced. GroupWise has a smaller footprint than its competitors, and it delivers comparable collaborative functionality that is Web-enabled with industry-standard security provisions. The real question is whether Novell will be overwhelmed by Lotus’ and Microsoft’s sheer size and their ability to generate publicity. After all, even if I invent a cola drink that tastes much better than Coca-Cola, can I really ever compete? The next year will reveal who will lead in the collaborative software race. Right now, I don’t count anybody out.