How efficient is your Lotus Notes application environment?

CASAHL Technology recently analyzed the Lotus Notes application environments of 100 large enterprise customers and found some surprising results:
 

• 38% of Notes applications had not been used in at least a month
• 27% of Notes applications were replicas
• 34% of Notes applications had a similar design and could be consolidated
• 76% of Notes applications were based on standard Lotus Notes templates and scored low to medium on a scale of complexity, making them easy to re-engineer to run in a different environment, if desired.

Eliminate duplicate or under-utilized applications
Clearly, many companies have a lot to gain by reviewing and cleaning up their Lotus Notes application environments.  By identifying duplicate and under-utilized applications and eliminating or consolidating them, companies can realize a reduced need for disk space and other resources and may require fewer software licenses.

Consolidate some applications onto other platforms already owned
Further analysis shows that additional savings are possible for companies considering a move to the Microsoft collaboration stack or greater use of Microsoft products that they already own.  Of the Lotus Notes applications remaining after consolidation and cleanup, 76% - 88% can be converted, relatively painlessly, to run in a new environment.  In the companies studied, 40% were convertible to SharePoint, 24% to InfoPath, and 24% to SQL Server and .NET.  Such conversions often can be accomplished automatically using software such as CASAHL ecKnowledge®, which requires little or no programming to convert most applications.

Convert some applications to more appropriate specialized environments
That leaves only a few complex or custom applications that require more detailed evaluation.  Often, in cases where Lotus Notes applications overlap with a company's CRM, SFA, or help desk system, the company can move the Notes content to the custom application environment by means of an automated conversion tool (such as CASAHL ecKnowledge®), and the original Notes application, in many cases, can then be retired. 

Utilize coexisting IBM and Microsoft technologies
For companies that wish to continue using both IBM and Microsoft collaboration software, a coexistence solution can be built, keeping the most complex custom applications in place and converting the less complex applications to more appropriate environments.  In this type of scenario, common to organizations involved in mergers or acquisitions, or in inter-organizational collaboration endeavors, solutions such as CASAHL ecKnowledge® can be used to seamlessly and securely synchronize collaborative applications and content so that end users and application developers can continue working in their preferred environments.

Optimize your collaborative applications with CASAHL products and services
CASAHL Technology has been helping organizations to optimize their collaboration investments since 1993.  CASAHL has specialized in collaborative application and content evaluation, cleanup, and coexistence/migration needs for the past four years, establishing an unmatched track record for successful customer solutions around the globe. 

CASAHL ecKnowledge® software makes it easy to: Migrate data and applications from Lotus Notes/Domino (including QuickPlace and Domino.Doc) to Microsoft collaboration products (such as SharePoint, InfoPath and Groove).   Support coexistence between Lotus Notes/Domino applications and Microsoft collaboration products.   Integrate Lotus Notes/Domino applications with virtually any enterprise content (including Oracle, DB2 and SAP R/3).

CASAHL consulting services (available directly from CASAHL and from its global solution provider partners) include: