I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday, but it was a very satisfying day.  

On the Elgiji (Genii Jam) front
Gabriella Davis had everything working to the point where I could log in but got an error when I tried to submit an Idea.  At first, I thought this was an IdeaJam software issue, but it turns out to be a dumb user error, with me the dumb user.  When I tried to set everything up myself before consulting Gabriella, I had used the default NAB as the directory to store names and groups, even though I knew we wanted a secondary address book.  When Gabriella took over that part and pointed to the secondary NAB she had created, she didn't know that I had already done things wrong first, so the groups were created first in the primary NAB and later in the secondary NAB.  Since the groups were empty in the primary NAB, the ACL wasn't letting anybody save ideas.  Once she realized, and chided me gently, she deleted the groups from the primary NAB and everything started working perfectly.  So, Genii Jam is now working perfectly as far as I can tell.

But I want to give an additional tip of the hat to Elguji, because when they were helping Gabriella figure out what was happening, Bruce Elgort also noticed that we had not changed the default CSS file, despite that being in the instructions (who, me, read the manual?), and reached out via e-mail to offer any help with that which I might need.  Excellent customer service, given that I had not even complained.  I am looking forward to working with Bruce and crew, although given the experience thus far, I doubt I'll be needing to reach out much.

My plan is to start soliciting beta testers on Monday.  Let me know if you are interested.

On the IBM front
Ed Brill had posted an article about my experiences, and a couple of those responding suggested that it would have been cheaper to buy the Business Partner Value Package and use the Run Your Business license entitlements instead of getting the Utility Express license.  While I posted a response there, I thought that I should address the subject in this diary to keep the information together.

When planing expenses, I tend to look at about three years of cost.  So, as an experiment, what would be the cost of a Domino Utility Express license with renewals for three years? $2650 (year 1) + $690 (year 2) + $690 (year 3)= $4030.  Adding in the cost of running my Notes client with an express option would add a bit under $200 for the three years, so let's say a total of $4230 total cost for three years.

What would be the cost of the BP Value Package for three years, with its Run Your Business licenses included? $2000 (year 1) + $2000 (year 2) + $2000 (year 3) = $6000 total cost for three years.

So, while there may be more benefits in buying the BP Value Package, the cost for three years is significantly less for purchasing the software directly. In addition, I would be a customer instead of a business partner, and there is a conjecture out that such a designation implies IBM listens more or responds better. Even if I am wrong, and it becomes clear, I have little to lose, since I could switch to the Value Package and save the $1440 or so in renewals for the latter two years.

I am not meaning to minimize the value of the Business Partner Value Package for many companies, but for a one person VSB with my particular focus, it is not compelling. The one part that is really not clear to me is how having access to passport will differ from the value access package for $795 per year. Since it confers no rights to run, but only to test, will I be able to get that same software through passport, or will I only have access to the Domino server? That is part of what I am trying to learn in this exercise.

Copyright © 2008 Genii Software Ltd.

Tags: Lotus Notes IdeaJam Elguji IBM