Genii Weblog

Forget free and concentrate on simple

Fri 10 Dec 2010, 02:47 PM



by Ben Langhinrichs
Perhaps I terribly misunderstand the business world and what makes organizations tick, but I think the calls for a free version on Lotus Notes, or now of Lotus Domino, completely miss out on what works and what doesn't.  There is a role for free software, and a time and a place for it as well. Taking a product that has been sold quite expensively to many, many customers for twenty one years, and offering it for free to any significant number of people (e.g., companies with 100 employees or fewer), gives a terrible message.

It scream desperation.

It says, the product you paid dearly for and believed in is close to dead.

I would hazard a guess that such an approach would lead many companies of significant size to abandon Lotus Notes/Domino.  That's right, it would cause people to leave because it would confirm the worst rumblings of the naysayers, and chop the feet out from under the advocates.  This is not because offering software for free always does that. It is a great way to build a market with a new product, but there is a time and place for everything.

A better approach would be to simplify the process. Ruthlessly chop away the layers of complexity, and make it drop-dead easy to purchase a license, to OEM, to bundle, whatever. We live in a world where nobody has the time and energy to fight through the thicket to acquire licenses.

As a business owner, I will pay a reasonable price for a product, but only if I can get it done before going off to fight the next fire.  I have tried to start two small (separate) ventures that would have required a Domino Express license, and given up both times.  That's right, I have dropped the ventures, stayed out of the business, not bought the software. I am about as tight-fisted as they come, but the price was never an obstacle. I simply didn't have time to fight through the hassle and move on.

Skip free. Free is a terrible idea with a terrible message attached. People want me to give products away for free all the time, but I have the same issue. If I started giving Midas away, many people who believe in it would jump immediately to the conclusion that it is dead, while in fact it is doing better than it has in years. Free is a great approach in your first year or two of a product, and a disastrous approach in your twenty-first year, but simple is never a problem. Every year, I struggle to find ways to make my products simpler, and every year it pays off. Lotus Domino's biggest obstacles are a) it is too closely associated with email which is now a commodity, and b) it is damned hard to purchase.

Distinguish it from email and make it as simple to purchase and to bundle as it is to install, and you will build back a customer base.

Make it free and even I am likely to start building applications for Microsoft or Google or somebody else.

Copyright © 2010 Genii Software Ltd.

What has been said:


926.1. Gregg Eldred
(12/10/2010 09:08 PM)

Free may be good for certain organizations (universities come to mind), but other than that, I am with you. All of the talk of free or open sourcing Notes/Domino make me uncomfortable. For the reasons you outline.

I do enjoy the public conversation, however it, too, has the chance to end up in the hands of people that bang the death knell for Lotus Notes and Domino.


926.2. Karl-Henry Martinsson
(12/10/2010 10:11 PM)

I did not advocate a totally free Domino server. But for unauthenticated users on the web, as a pure webapp server, I think thousands of dollars is too much when there are truly free alternatives. And I think a free webapp version (no mail, and Notes client still need a CLI) would be a great way to expose the power of Domino.

Since IBM does not market Domino (at least not to the technical community) as a product, they need to expose it in some way.


926.3. Ben Langhinrichs
(12/10/2010 10:22 PM)

@Karl-Henry - In a more perfect world, I'd agree, but competitors are not going to focus on the specifics. They are going to say over and over again at every competitive account, "See, they have to give it away because it is so unpopular", and I don't trust the media to do much better. "IBM is losing" makes a better story.


926.4. Karl-Henry Martinsson
(12/10/2010 11:05 PM)

@Ben: I agree to a certain extent. That's why the free product need to get a special name, and be marketed (if you can call it that when giving it away for free) in a particular way. I have some experience in the media industry (I was a full time journalist for 5 years and been freelancing for almost 10), and you are right, "IBM is losing" makes a good story. But that is what PR people are getting paid to do, get the marketing message out.

Here is a fictional press release:

"IBM releases community and small business web app server for free.

IBM today announced a special version of it's Domino server, called IBM Lotus Domino WebApp Express. The new server is a based on the IBM Lotus Domino server, and it is free to download and use. The difference between this free version and the commercial versions Domino Collaboration Server and Domino Collaboration Server Express is that the licensing only allows for deployment of web applications, for unauthenticated users. If the customer want to use a Notes client to access the databases, or to use authetication and email (either through the Notes cleint or usingt he iNotes webmail), each user need a license of Lotus Notes Collaboration Express, with a list price of around $130 per user.

IBM previously released the latest version of the Rapid Application Development (RAD) tool Domino Designer for free.

- Domino WebApp Server and Domino Designer is a powerful combination to develop modern web applications using Xpages, said Ed Brill at IBM.

- This is a great way for developers to experience the full power of Domino as a web application platform, and for small businesses to quickly develop web applications to help them become more successful.

-The free server can easily be upgraded to the full enterprise version, and it can be complemented with paid licenses as needed for Notes users or authenticated web users, explains Ed Brill further.

He explains that this server should be seen as the entry level product, and that he expect that most companies will eventually move to take full advantage of the Domino platform.


926.5. Giulio
(11/12/2010 09:08 AM)

Ben, make it simple is a good idea. But then ibm how would then maintain the bureaucracy. They would become.....efficient!!!!


926.6. Henning Heinz
(11.12.2010 10:30)

The IdeaJam suggestion basically means that the Domino server is free for applications for up to 250 users. SMB customers would then only pay for mail and rich client applications.

For mail you could use another product (or a cheap cloud option) and the rich client would be dead in SMB then. As XPages basically are browser-like applications hardly anyone would probably pay for it if there is a free offer for 100 (or up to 250) users.

From talks with customers I also know that some customers that do not fit in the free definitions are sometimes quite upset that they should pay for something that is free for others.

I also would dislike seeing thousands of Domino servers running unsupported in the wild. A Domino server can be very unfriendly when not properly used (or configured).

Now having said all this against becoming free. Cloud offerings are extremely cheap and although vendors try not to change pricing for traditional licensing I am not sure if this will work. For example if LotusLive advertises "No subscriptions are required for your collaborators whether they are inside or outside your company" why charge loyal customers with Extranet licenses!?

So finally I am at making it easier not free too. Or at least start with easier and then probably make it free.

I am curious what people would say when IBM would bundle XPages with Websphere Community Edition and Apache Hadoop (IBM's prefered NoSQL platform outside of Notes) or DB2 Express.

Sounds quite powerful to me.


926.7. Keith Brooks
(12/12/2010 02:32 AM)

Ben, Agree with you. The funny thing is, the server is free already.

You only pay for the user licenses in most cases, not every case, IBM does need to make money too.

In general the world does not want to pay for anything and maybe it is time to rethink pricing/usage. After all Notes used to be very expensive, as did most software, but it has been dropping price, as have others over the years.