Proč programovat v Lotus Notes

Partnerské fórum je plné zajímavých článků a informací. Nedávno se probírala i otázka, proč je člověk business partnerem a jedna z odpovědí byla i ta, že daný člověk je nera mrtvou rybou, která plave s prodem (i když v angličtině to zní výrazně lépe :)). Ale nedlouho poté Rudi Knegt z RKJSOFTu napsal tento krásný článek, který nechávám v angličtině (a který mám pocit, že je více než pravdivý).

My best example of how good notes is, is about 6 or 7 years old now..

A Microsoft Business Partner company had a Large Customer they did work for for at least 5 years allready, had at least 10 people detached there contineously, and this customer wanted to have a notes application together with their main supplier.. They asked around, and this MS shop decided to do this on their own, without getting help from a Lotus BP (as they were still called back then).

However they did ask a training company if they could have a week long dedicated workshop on using the designer.. and well I was asked to do this.. so I asked what the plan was, and got a bold big picture of the planned application.. as this was planned as a workshop I decided to make the excercises in such a form that they would build the application, and that they continued on each other in such a way that it would prepare them for the application way more then they would expect.

During each evening in my Hotel I rearranged and rebuild the next day’s worth of excercises to achive this goal as I was explaind during the day what was needed. During the first two days the 4 participants were amased about how many functions were allready integrated into both Lotusscript and @formel language. They were used to building such functions over and over again.. One even brought his library with VB functions with him, and found them almost totally obsolete..

At the end of the 5 days the 4 participants were amazed upon what they had learned in such a short time, and I confronted them with the fact that their proposed target, building this application, was within a few days reach.. they all agreed..

On Tuesday after the workshop I was called by their teammanager and he was furious, he screamed and shouted on the phone, and it took me more then 15 minits to have him cool down. Then I finally got him to tell me what was wrong.. His team, which was ‚sold‘ to that customer for 6 months (aka 2 years worth of work accoring to their estimate workamount in MS business), had almost finished the work they were about to START next week.. How on earth would he be able to sell his customer 6 months worktime, with an allmost fully functional prototype which was build during a 5 day workshop, which only had a few minor things to be build in before being able to be brought into production.. He then continued in telling me that he was UNWILLING to pay the bill for this training as it given his company such a „loss“, and that I was to blame for this.

Eventhough the prototype had 80% of the wanted functionality, everyone here knows the 80-20 rule, he apearently did not.. it took the developers another 4 weeks to complete the task, still 5 months early.. It took me two more phonecalls (to his boss and to the CEO of his company) each of about one hour, to clear the ‚problem‘ out and get payed.

Of those 4 employees, 2 have made their own Lotus BP, and the two others moved to a new employer.. All are working with notes now, and still are as far as I know.

The moral ? Well never underestimate the power of notes, it never stops the amazement in any company which has no clue what notes can do.. and it still improves itself with every release that get’s out.. I for one still see myself doing notes & domino in the next 5 years, and I do hope the customer do to..

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