Genii Weblog

Are you smart enough for Sametime?

Mon 3 Jan 2011, 09:20 AM



by Ben Langhinrichs
This is another of those mysteries to me.  Companies chose to spend a lot of money on Lotus Sametime (exact amounts may vary, but many amounts would be enough to shake a very big stick at).  Now wait, that doesn't surprise me.  Sametime is a great tool, but the way many companies use it, it's like having a Swiss Army knife and only using the little scissors: great for performing your own open heart surgery in the wild, but really missing many of the finer points of the product.

Knowing this, two of the smartest people around got together and wrote a book.  Not a book for Sametime administrators, although those might be well advised to read it before their users show them up for not knowing something obvious  that doesn't have to do with golf.  Instead, a book for Sametime users, the people your company wanted to be productive when they licensed the software.

It's called IBM Lotus Sametime 8 Essentials: A User's Guide, and it was written by Thomas Duff and Marie Scott.  As I said, two very smart people (who are teaming up with Gabriella Davis for another book, by the way, but that's another story).

But it doesn't matter how smart they are.  It matters how smart YOU are.  Are you smart enough to get a few of these books and spread them around to the influential people in your company, the ones who haven't quite gotten Sametime yet?  You don't need to get it for everybody, obviously, or even many people.  Start with one or two, and let the influencers do what they do.  In a short while, you will see people using Sametime more.  A little bit later, you'll see it used to form communities and share intelligence in ways you didn't imagine it could.  It's not sexy, it's not cool, just smart.

But only if you're smart enough to buy a copy.  Forty bucks.  Are you that smart?


Non-Disclaimer disclaimer: I have received nothing from the publisher or the authors or anybody else, not even a free copy of the book.  Nobody has threatened me or my kids (like I'd be worried - the two authors together barely reach my height). It's just a damn useful book, that's all.

Copyright © 2011 Genii Software Ltd.

What has been said:


947.1. Duffbert (01/03/2011 02:30 PM)

Thanks for the great post, Ben!


947.2. Ben Langhinrichs (01/03/2011 02:51 PM)

You are certainly welcome, although in this case I am also doing it for the "greater good", or at least to try and foster more of an active market in the professionally written books on Lotus Software. If IBM is going to take forever to catch on that what isn't marketed doesn't sell, I guess we are all going to have to step up a bit. With my current fixation on writing and publishing, I figured this neglected segment could use a bit of focus.

Oh, and it's hard to lose when hitching your wagon to two stars like you and Marie. Makes me look good to recommend a book by you folks.


947.3. Marie Scott (01/03/2011 03:08 PM)

Thanks Ben! This book would be great for the help desk in any organization as well!


947.4. Ben Langhinrichs (01/03/2011 03:12 PM)

@Marie - That's a good point actually, although I'd love companies to take a proactive view at how to best utilize the software they have. (I know, I sound like every Lotus Notes/Domino developer since the dawning of the Notes age.)


947.5. Joe Litton (01/03/2011 05:00 PM)

I must concur with the message of the post. I've typically worked at large organizations, and most have had at LEAST one other app to address functions that the already-owned Sametime handled very nicely. I bought the book and have it on my home desk... reading bit by bit and already learned a thing or two -- even after thinking I knew ST quite well!


947.6. Paul Mooney (01/03/2011 07:39 PM)

I bought it a few months ago - and learned stuff from going through it.


947.7. Vaughan Rivett (01/04/2011 06:53 AM)

Is there an electronic version available via amazon or the Apple store?