One of the many powerful features of IBM Lotus Notes has always been
its ability to change or increase functionality by applying templates
to the design of a Notes application. In the case of Lotus Notes Mail, a 3rd Party mail template can be used to extend the functionality of standard Lotus Notes Mail experience by adding features not available in the standard Notes Mail template.
It is understandable that Notes Administrators may have some concerns
about allowing the use of 3rd party Mail templates with Lotus Notes.
At the same time, there are valid arguments for why users
should be permitted to extend their use of Lotus Notes with third party
(non IBM) templates for Lotus Notes.
The purpose of this Wiki page is to collect this information in one place so
that it may be considered when evaluating the use of a 3rd Party Mail template.
Business justification for the use of a 3rd Party Mail Template:
- Increased end-user productivity
- Support better business decision making
- Improved interaction with colleagues, partners, and customers
- Makes users more productive, responsive, and proactive
- Helps to show the strength and adaptability of IBM Lotus Software
- Increases user's like for Lotus Notes
- May not want to support more than one Mail template
- Concerns about potential impact on server performance
- If I allow my users to use a 3rd party template, who do I call for support?
Responses to the above business justifications and administrator concerns:
(Please comment here. If you have new justifications or concerns, please add them above.)
Domno admin's use third party tools for monitoring/reporting all the time. Consider the mail design as another third party tool, don't get stuck in the "its the mail file" paradigm. Most admins see any mail template updates as "load convert, compact,
updall,", and have been burned in the past with the folder mishigas. Its sort of like holy ground, mess up a mail file and the customer gets interrupted. eProductivity is quite automated and able to perform some update tasks automatically, without getting the admin involved. Some admins are not using good template managment techniques and have been hurt in the past.
I think if you had a video demo of the steps to put the template on the server, sign, analyze existing template usage and update one user, admins could see its not a big deal to implement. Server performance and Security, ie how many extra views for server based mail files compared to the OEM, For security, does the application communicate to a home server, or can the updates be controlled from within the organization. just a few thoughts.....
Comments specific to the OpenNTF Mail Experience Template
Comments specific to eProductivity for IBM Lotus Notes
From personal experience, I know that it is a simple and quick matter to apply another template to an existing mail file that is using eProductivity, should that ever be necessary. And I believe one can re-apply the eProductivity template and recover their mail file to its original eProductivity state (i.e., actions and project all still in place). If a Notes admin ever suspects a problem with eProductivity, the user can apply a supported template to see if the problem persists. If it does, it's not an eProductivity problem; if it does persist, the user can contact eProductivity support for assistance. Another option is to create a copy of one's mail file, then use that to debug any problems vs. mucking about with their primary mail file. Most of us that use eProductivity are early adopters and, dare I say, ahead of the curve. We should take responsibility for our use of a third-party template and not expect our admins to support us if problems occur. Of course, we can work on getting our admins to support eProductivity, especially if we get them fired up about the effectiveness of eProductivity.The justifications for using eProductivity are spot on. Allow me to note that I know of at least one other mail template that was released internal to IBM - and it is posted on an internal database for early adopter users called "T.A.P." (Technology Adoption Program). I am being specific to IBMers, I know that.
I think it would be great to have, at the ready, some sort of analysis that shows server performance is not negatively impacted by use of the eProductivity template, that would be helpful.