It is a fairly longstanding truism that software platforms live and die by the applications, extensions, and integrations written for them. OS/2 was a kick butt operating system, but could not keep the ecosystem going. Notes/Domino has been an amazing platform for decades, but has struggled in part because too many times, there wasn't an integration to Notes where there was to Outlook. (There are plenty of other examples, but these are more central to this community.)
But is this still a requirement? The world has changed in a lot of ways, and the ecosystems have moved outside of the platforms to some degree. Obviously, as an ISV, I'd like it to still be true that ISVs are critical to a platform's success, but wanting it is not the same as it being true. HCL is doing a ton of great work on the products, but they seem a little disinterested in other people writing products that use Domino as a backbone, for example. They seem fairly convinced that the products will live out there somewhere, and that what is needed is a way to get the data in and out. Is that enough?
Thoughts? I am genuinely curious what people think.
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Tags: HCL HCL Domino