My career in technology began in May 1993 when I was a coop student at IBM Canada. My responsibilities there were spilt between AS/400 tasks and setting up this new groupware thing called Lotus Notes. Well today Lotus Notes celebrates its 25th birthday.
Image taken from Mat Newman's blog.
It's amazing how pioneering Notes was in creating the industry that we today call âª"social business." I, along with many of my friends and colleagues owe our careers to Lotus Notes.
Let's look back at some of the things Notes did, oh so many years ago:
Applications: Long before Apple made the slogan "There's an app for that" popular, Lotus Notes users spent their days clicking on little square icons each representing a different business application. These applications included CRM tools, inventory control, project management and thousands of other uses.
Security: Long before two-factor authentication sent text messages to your phone to help secure logins, Lotus Notes required not only a password, but that you had an actual ID file on your computer. Notes has built in encryption which still protects data better than many of today's collaboration tools do. Notes has granular access control lists (ACLs) for each application (database) providing a range of user roles ranging from Depositor to Manager. Notes uses execution control lists (ECLs) to control what programs can and can't do on your behalf. (think of it like today's "permissions" in mobile apps) Notes even provides field level security via reader/author name fields on forms. These features are mainly invisible to users, but provide an incredible level of security.
Replication: Long before people starting "synching content to the cloud", Lotus Notes enabled people to "replicate" data between their computer and the server that hosted their applications and mail. This local replication enabled people to use their mail and apps even when disconnected from the network. (i.e. offline)
Mobile: Long before "mobile" was an industry buzzword, Lotus Notes apps ran on phones and PDAs. Yes, it was mainly Palm Pilots and BlackBerry's back then, but it was still amazing for the time.
What do you think Lotus Notes greatest strength was? (is?)
Sadly, I barely use Lotus Notes anymore, but I still respect how ahead of it's time it was, and in some ways still is. I'm constantly hearing pitches from "hot new startups" that are trying to do things Notes did 20+ years ago. I've posted this poster from 1991 several times, but let's review it once more. Just replace a few words and this could be any collaboration vendor's current marketing campaign.
Notes from Lotus
Until now, most PC software was designed for individuals using individual PCs. But today, more and more people are working in teams on networked PCs that require a new kind of software. Software that lets them quickly share ideas and information no matter where, when or how they work.
Enter Lotus Notes.
The first software than actually thrives on the fact that people need to work together to be effective. Lotus Notes creates a new communications environment where users can develop applications - for sales tracking, project management, customer service, and free form discussions of all kinds - and routinely access and share this information from their desktop to anyone, anywhere in the world. In fact, no other software maximizes your investments in networked PCs like Lotus Notes.
After all, helping people work together is what Lotus does best.
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