The Lotus Notes calendar, for example, has built-in information about time zones and the associated Daylight Saving Time (DST) definitions. When those change, we supply an update (a 'fix') to ensure customers can continue to rely on accurate knowledge of time zone differences and what dates DST starts and ends in each time zone. I have noticed how very seamlessly Notes handles those differences for me, when I schedule meetings with teams around the world, and I'm not 100% sure exactly what day each country switches to or from DST. I've never had an issue with a misunderstood meeting time. But that seamless performance is only as good as the underlying knowledge of Time Zone and DST definitions (whether based on the operating system or the application), so when governments decide on changes - and some times that happens with literally just a few weeks of notice - we do our best to respond quickly to keep our customers' scheduling accurate.
If the change is known far in advance, say over a year, it's pretty easy to apply fixes to change the definitions in the operating system and/or the application. The problem comes when the change of definition happens with such a short notice, there is already a number of appointments in the calendar during the time period affected. For example, when the US accelerated the onset of DST by three weeks in 2007, users who already had calendar appointments in that three week span needed to make a decision on whether to adjust them or not. There is no easy logic to make that decision. If you had an appointment with your dentist 10 am standard time, that would naturally shift to 10 am DST after the government decides to apply DST on that date, because you are both in the same, affected time zone. But if you had a conference call with a major customer overseas, whose time zone definition did not change (different government), then the appointment would probably stay at 10 am standard time, which will now be 11 am DST for you. The calendar cannot distinguish which appointments to adjust, and which not to adjust. Human intelligence is still needed. Fortunately :-)
Signature Mortgage on LotusLive
Thu, Aug 25th 2011 9:10p Flemming T Christensen Would like to share a customer testimonial regarding LotusLive. We have received some nice press coverage in the past year for a very large LotusLive deal, the largest ever. But as this testimonial shows, LotusLive can add value no matter the size of the subscriber's organization.
What I find so interesting in this testimonial is the transformational power of the solution. This is literally a game changer for the subscriber, catapulting their services into the competitive leading edge. [read] Keywords:
91
IBM Policy of Supporting N-2
Wed, Aug 10th 2011 11:12p Flemming T Christensen You may be familiar with the fact IBM Software Group has upped the minimum duration of software support from "3+2" to "5+3", or expressed in words: minimum 3 [now 5] years of support, with at least 2 [now 3] more years of support available at a charge. This better enables our clients to schedule upgrades at convenient times and not be forced to upgrade every few years.
An important extension of the IBM Software Support Lifecycle Policy is the statement that we will normally support N-2, me [read] Keywords: collaboration
domino
ibm
notes
sametime
119
How to open a FREE Lotus Greenhouse account
Tue, Aug 9th 2011 8:13p Flemming T Christensen My colleague Ron Denham has put together a quick 4 minute video showing you how simple it is to open a FREE Lotus Greenhouse account. I want to share his video for two reasons: (1) Because a Lotus Greenhouse account lets you try out all our products without purchasing a license, and (2) because a Lotus Greenhouse account is needed to comment on entries in this blog.
If you don't already have a Lotus Greenhouse account, please listen to the video, create your account now, and start famil [read] Keywords: lotus
109
IBM Virtualization Support policy
Thu, Jul 21st 2011 2:10p Flemming T Christensen From time to time, I am asked what virtualization environments specific products support. With the increasingly diverse choice of virtualization technologies available, it is natural for IBM to select some that will be supported across our portfolio, ensuring that multi-product solutions can leverage the same virtualization technology. So last year, IBM announced a virtualization support policy aligning virtualization support across our product portfolio. In addition, individual products or prod [read] Keywords: ibm
virtualization
136
When the use of metrics goes awry
Tue, Jun 28th 2011 11:14p Flemming T Christensen In the field of software quality, we rely extensively on a series of quantitative metrics to inform us of trends and performance. We need to be keenly aware that the very instant we set a target value for a metric, we are driving behaviors of the people we charge with achieving the target value. Through it all, leaders need to ensure everybody stays focused on what's best for our business and for our customers; and that excessive pressure to achieve those metrics targets don't interfere [read] Keywords: ibm
141
Comparison of Connections and Sharepoint
Thu, Jun 23rd 2011 2:14p Flemming T Christensen Quality has multiple dimensions, but ease-of-use is undeniably a big part of how users subjectively evaluate software they work with. This comparison of IBM Connections and Microsoft Sharepoint gives an in-depth illustration of how our teams have worked to make IBM Connections easy and intuitive to use. Collaborating, sharing documents, or becoming a social business are all topics of the day, but as this video demonstrates, to ensure you choose the optimal solution, you have to go beyond the buz [read] Keywords: connections
ibm
lotus
microsoft
sharepoint
108
IBM Champions for Collaboration Solutions announced
Wed, Jun 22nd 2011 2:14p Flemming T Christensen The IBM Champions program, mentioned previously in the blog, has completed the first set (2011) of reviews for the Collaboration Solutions area and today announced the 2011 Champions, see the Social Business Insights Blog entry. These 50 individuals are customers and partners (non IBM employees), who help evangelize our solutions in the field and build the community of users. They deserve our admiration and thank you for their dedication to excellent collaboration solutions, for their insight an [read] Keywords: collaboration
connections
ibm
lotus
community
67
LotusLive Mobile Meetings beta now on Android as well as Apple and Blackberry
Mon, Jun 20th 2011 6:14p Flemming T Christensen The LotusLive Mobile Meetings beta application download for the Android platform has been added to our LotusLive Mobile program, such that the beta is now available on both Apple, Blackberry and Android. For an overview of all platforms, go to the LotusLive Mobile Overview page. If you are a LotusLive Engage/Meetings subscriber, and use either an Apple iPhone, a RIM Blackberry, or an Android mobile phone, please consider trying out the Mobile Meetings application. [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
apple
application
blackberry
iphone
mobile
rim
103
Happy Centennial IBM & Wild Ducks
Thu, Jun 16th 2011 1:10p Flemming T Christensen Today marks 100 years since the founding of our company. Very few companies have made it that far. IBM continues to have a unique vision and impact in the world. Our commitment to quality and customer satisfaction in all that we do is naturally important to me as a quality engineer, but on a broader scale, it not just about better quality; it's about a better world. Our campaigns call that a "Smarter Planet" these days, but make no mistake: Our commitment to a better world has been ingrain [read] Keywords: collaboration
ibm
139
Quickr Connectors now support 64-bit Windows and MS Office 2010
Mon, Jun 6th 2011 3:10p Flemming T Christensen It's a small step in the greater picture, but an important one. I have had several customers ask for this. The Quickr Connectors now support 64-bit Windows and Office 2010. See Mac Guidera's blog post on the topic, and visit Fix Central to download the connectors as Quickr 8.5.0.1_HF7. Feel free to post feedback regarding the quality of the connectors as comments to this blog entry. We're always looking for ways to serve you better. [read] Keywords: ibm
lotus
quickr
mac
office
