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The comparison to "Exchange" is what is killing Notes
I read all the postings to date on this thread, and I agree with you all. I absolutely can't stand that people are migrating off of Notes, and I also agree that IBM\Lotus are STILL doing a horrible job of marketing their product.
What I can say however is that as much as we want to blame IBM\Lotus, it is also our own fault. We have spent years defending Notes against "Exchange." How stupid of us to allow the industry to compare Notes to a single use product like Exchange. Even worse is that instead of correcting any discussion or any reviewer that ONLY compares it to Exchange/Outlook, we actually get involved and keep the topic focused on that ONE aspect of the product. Absolutely amazing... The reason we all love Notes is not because it is the best eMail platform (aka Exchange) but for everything else it also is, and how well it does it all. -WE- need to educate people that Notes is SQL, IIS, Exchange, IM, .Net and more all combined into one product, NOT JUST EXCHANGE! This makes the price/value comparison go through the roof to the point that even a CFO would buy into it!
All I can say is that at my company, it would take an act of the Supreme to get Notes out of our environment. We have over 200 custom "Applications" (and isn't it time we call them applications instead of databases) and if we lost those custom apps, our business would literally grind to a halt. Our owners, CIO's, CFO's, COO's and VP's all know this as well. They know this because they are the ones that get the emails everyday asking for them to approve documents from applications such as HR apps, travel expenses, capital expenses, new hires, help desks, asset tracking, etc. etc. They know this because we invested heavily in making their life easier with custom apps that replaced all the slow and tedious "paper trails" that made up standard administrative duties.
So again, IBM\Lotus have certainly done their part to screw up the marketing. They have done their part to allow the comparison to JUST Exchange. The sad thing though is that the majority of the Notes community, at least from what I have seen, have done the same. If you want a Notes revolution, it needs to start with ditching the "Exchange" comparison, and really hit Microsoft where it hurts, a comparison to ALL their core products!!! The integration of OpenOffice in Notes 8 was a brilliant move to hit Microsoft below the belt, but the hit won't sting unless WE make it sting and let everyone know what Notes should really be compared to.
Feedback response number WEBB7AQ5FE created by ~Hank Lophipilitli on 01/10/2008
The comparison to "Exchange" is what is killing Notes
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. . The comparison to "Exchange" is wha... (~Hank Lophipili... 10.Jan.08) 
