Above and Beyond... Collaboration!

Over the last year IBM announced a number of initiatives like Blue House and now Lotus Notes Hosted Messaging.  All these initiatives seem to be moving IBM towards hosted solutions and cloud computing.  All very good and exciting – if you live in a country where internet connections are fast and affordable.  Unfortunately, this is not the case in most developing (and specifically African) countries.

 

Internet connectivity remains one of the biggest challenges and limitations when deploying systems in Africa.  Even implementing simple applications like e-mail presents all sorts of challenges.  One of the sites I recently implemented in Ghana, previously had a hosted POP mail solution.  They experienced various random delays on incoming as well as outbound mail even though the SMTP server was hosted by their ISP.  We implemented a Domino server, and implemented the Google Message Security SaaS solution for virus and spam filtering.  Google Message Security (previously Postini) automatically spools incoming SMTP mail if the mail host can not be reached.  This has proven to be a real life-saver as there are almost daily occurrences where the spooler is activated.  The mail host becomes unreachable due to the limited bandwidth and even due to power interruptions.  When working from the site in Ghana, I can sometimes browse the internet (patience is the keyword), but trying to replicate my Lotus Notes mailbox or even using Sametime proves to be a futile exercise.

 

As much as the whole Software as a Service and Cloud Computing concept excites me, I am afraid it is not something that will gain momentum in developing countries any time soon.  Maybe the introduction of SEACOM in June 2009 will play a role in addressing the bandwidth challenges of countries in Southern and East Africa?

I rediscovered this blog - created quite some time ago - while doing a Google search using my name.  (Yes, it's a strange yet satisfying experience to see some results when you search Google and find yourself there...)  Anyway, I decided there is no better time to join the thousands of other bloggers out there!

A bit more about me

I started developing software about 22 years ago (when I was about 10???) on an old SVI Spectravideo.  Just like so many other developers, I entered the world of coding with the famous "Hello World!" application using a simple line of BASIC code.  Today I am an established Software Developer and Systems Architect, specialising in Lotus Notes and Domino development & administration.  Over the past 10 years I have had the opportunity to developing and deploying a variety of systems for various companies representing a broad industry spectrum.  From Quality Management Systems to Document Management Systems - I've developed them all.  Over the last 7 years I have been developing a Lotus Notes & Domino based Workflow Engine called Agilit-e.

I am currently employed by Above and Beyond Concepts as Operations Manager.  ABC is an IBM Business Partner company based in Johannesburg, South Africa.  I am furtunate to work with a team of really talented software developers.  Everyone works hard, and plays hard!

The future

In November 2008 the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) and United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) contracted me to develop a Investor Tracking System.  The exciting prospect is that the system will be deployed to many Investment Promotion Agencies in countries across the world.  Not only will I get the opportunity to travel and see the world, but I will also be deploying Lotus Notes and Domino into all these developing countries!  And believe me - I will be wearing my "I bleed yellow" t-shirt while I'm doing it. (Yes, I've been there, done that, and got the t-shirt and Lotusphere 2008).

I am hoping that I can use this blog to share my experiences with the rest of the loyal Lotus followers around the world.  There is also an opportunity to make contact with other Lotus developers based in the countries I'll be visiting.  The deployment of Notes and Domino will definitely create an opportunity for future development and support in places where Lotus support is probably non-existant.

Goal

The Lotus products have very little or even no presence in many developing countries.  I have first-hand experience of this in South Africa.  I hope that this blog will somehow help to raise the awareness of the Lotus products in developing countries.