If you're familiar with Lotus Notes/Domino, I'm sure SharePoint, in many ways, feels like a déjà vu. But because we don't cover the Notes client or the Domino server (well, not on its own, though we cover several IBM Lotus products that run on top of Domino), I've never really compared them head-to-head.
I was discussing this with my colleague Apoorv Durga today, and rather than focus on the resemblances,
or the fact that IBM is slowly phasing out Domino in favor of newer platforms, we tried to think up the most essential differences. Of course, this is comparing apples to oranges; but if you're willing to think of both as "grown in orchards" and "considered a fruit," you can, in fact, compare them:
This is just what we came up with in one afternoon, and by no means as comprehensive as the comparisons in our Evaluation Reports. So what do you think? I'd welcome any additions or corrections in the comments below. Lotus Notes/Domino may be yesterday's news compared to SharePoint, but it's still alive and well in many enterprises -- and I have a nagging suspicion Apoorv and I are not the only ones comparing notes.
[Update: 07 December] Sorry about the comment on IBM phasing out Notes/Domino, which obviously didn't come across as it was intended. I've therefore decided to delete it (or rather, for the sake of transparency, to leave it there but to strike through.) My colleague Tony Byrne has added some more thoughts about Lotus and SharePoint here.
Meanwhile, thanks to those who contributed technical insights in the comments. I have some follow-up questions that I'll address there.
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