As is my wont, I’m trying to take a 30,000ft view of Lotusphere on the final day, and as usual, it’s really difficult whilst still here on site in the hustle and bustle of the event.
However, whilst a debrief takes time, and a full review of the week will follow after I get back to the UK, there is definitely a theme that I will take away from this week.
A new Lotus has begun to emerge…
A Lotus that:
- is assured of its place in the market, ready to compete head on with all the social/collaboration/appdev vendors, not just Microsoft
- is confident of its future, within the market, within IBM and under the new leadership of Alistair Rennie
- embraces and holds dear the rich history of Notes and Domino, and is definitive about its place in the brave new world of integrated always-on real-time social collaboration
- realises that Google Wave is a game-changer, and is ready to step up and face it head-on
- is becoming a greater influence on IBM as a whole, both through the industry focus on social collaboration in 2010 and beyond, and because of the continued stature of the previous 5 Lotus GMs
- continues to learn the significance of social media (blogs, Twitter and much more)
- fully recognises the importance of the Lotus community and the special (perhaps unique) relationship that Lotus software has with its user and partner base
- that now has one defined vision for all its products to work towards over the next few years – none of the other vendors has anything close right now.
For me this Lotusphere has been a little short on ‘Wow’ – no new products and a low-key OGS mean that is inevitable. Â
However, at least from where I sit on Thursday morning, that isn’t a big deal.  Lotusphere is a very very special few days every year, and I would not miss it for the world.  However, back in the real world, this isn’t important. Â
What matters is that Lotus is composed, mature and ready to deal with the coming years. Â Lotusphere 2010 has shown me that the new Lotus is all of that.