IBM Pledges Quickr Migration from SharePoint - Beating SharePoint Means Tying Lotus to Web 2.0 Tools (
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Clearly, IBM's game plan for beating the
powerful Microsoft SharePoint collaboration suite hinges on infusing its Lotus
software unit with social computing tools that Microsoft doesn't have yet,
according to Jeff Schick, vice president of social networking for IBM
Lotus.
According to Forrester Research analyst Rob Koplowitz, however, while
SharePoint is certainly going to become a part of the landscape for a lot of
organizations, most content providers will use both SharePoint and Lotus tools.
"In a lot of cases it won't be an either-or," Koplowitz said.
Burton Group analyst Mike Gotta told eWEEK May 1 that SharePoint is
like a "Swiss Army knife, and there is the hope that the platform solves
historical gaps in Microsoft's collaboration and content efforts."
Gotta agreed with Schick that Microsoft's social software tools, such as
blogs and wikis, are not particularly strong, so the company is dependent on
partners to fill those gaps. So how is IBM
to capitalize on this with Quickr and Connections?
According to Gotta, IBM must appeal to
existing clients that have an investment in Lotus but are looking for something
that appeals to the enterprise crowds looking for Web 2.0 tools. At the same
time, the company must provide an integration strategy for customers with mixed
content management systems.
"IBM needs to continue to present options to enterprise
decision makers and hope that there is some level of buyer' s remorse down the
road concerning SharePoint," Gotta said. "If that happens, a Quickr
plus Connections alternative could make sense. But again, in the short run—this
seems defensive and appeals mostly to customers with an inclination to go with IBM in
any case."
Messaging & Collaboration 
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