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Is Lotus Notes really gaining over MS Exchange Server?

September 25, 2009

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There seems to be a small debate going on right now in some IT circles. Lately, IBM has claimed that large firms and Fortune 500 companies have been switching to Lotus Notes and other collaboration software provided by IBM. Big Blue is even saying that the trend has been increasing in the last two quarters.

Naturally, if you ask people at Microsoft, of course they will probably tell you the exact opposite, claiming that large organizations and Fortune 500 companies have been dumping Lotus products and instead have adopted Microsoft's collaboration software, along with Exchange Server applications and services.

So the question is, who should you believe?

In 2002 and 2003, it seemed that Lotus Notes and IBM's Domino software products were dropping in sales, with some reports of companies switching to Exchange Server and related Microsoft software.

IBM says the range of companies that have expanded the use of Lotus Notes software includes BASF, Chrysler, Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, General Motors, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis and Phillips Electronics.

Now, Big Blue is also saying that since last year, over 15,000 companies have chosen its Lotus products over Microsoft's. Of course, and as you might expect, IBM isn't saying how many companies chose Microsoft over Lotus in the same period either...

IBM officials say several leading companies including U.S. Bank, PNC Bank and Continental Tire that traditionally used both IBM and Microsoft are migrating away from Exchange and SharePoint to Lotus Notes products.

Bob Picciano, general manager at IBM Lotus Software says "IBM collaboration software is winning against Microsoft worldwide. We've expanded our customer base and our partner network significantly, and our footprint within companies has also increased with both environments."

"Companies are looking at the aggregated value of IBM's Web 2.0, collaboration and social software for their own roadmap to the future," Picciano added.

Mark Dickelman, senior v.p. of innovation and R&D for U.S. Bank says "the IT industry has undergone unprecedented changes since the beginning of 2009 and we expect that trend could intensify as well for next year."

About 62 percent of the global 500 corporations use Lotus Notes and Domino, IBM officials claimed.

"Keeping up with economic developments and policy changes and the need to quickly communicate while innovating for growth would be nearly impossible with traditional methods, and that's why Lotus collaboration software will continue to be incredibly useful to U.S. Bank, especially in today's ever-changing banking environment," said Dickelman.

So, who ever you believe, nevertheless, some IT industry analysts are watching this trend very carefully. After all, it is a multi billion dollar market, and in such a large market, just a one or two percent gain in market share still represents a lot of cash.

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Source: IBM.