Category Quickr

SNAPP-On™ Modules for Lotus Quickr Released

As I announced here on Aug 16th, SNAPPS was working on some user-focused plug-in modules for the "My Places" area of Lotus Quickr for Domino. Well today I can happily say it is a fait accompli, and ready for production! We've developed three to start with, and more are in the works. The Modules work with versions 8.1, 8.2, and 8.5 (beta or GA, when that comes). I've detailed them below, and you should see screenshots very soon - but the code is ready and evals are downloadable now. Our final stress test simulated what would likely be the largest single-server Quickr installation in the world, so I think we're ready!

Favorites Module
The Favorites Module gives end users the ability to - with a simple click of the mouse - create a link to their most often-used places at the top of the My Places list. Once there, the user can reorder the list, change the name of the link to what they want, or remove them from the list. In the My Places list, places that are already Favorites have a visual cue of a gold star next to the name. The Module is simple, intuitive, and one of the most requested features in the Quickr product. The Favorites module is licensed per user.
Custom Tab Module
The Custom Tab Module lets you add your own tab to the My Places area, with your own HTML and Javascript. It can be as simple as "Company News," "Privacy Policies," or "Usage Guidelines." Or, you can make it as complex as a charting application, dashboard, aggregation of data from other sources - there really is no limit to what you can do with this extra page! SNAPPS is of course available to develop your custom content for these more complex use cases. The Custom Tab Module is licensed per server.

InfoBox Module
The InfoBox Module lets you add your own text or HTML on the left side of the screen in one of five ways. You can create a separate box above or below IBM's "Tips" box, you can prepend your text in the same Tips box, append to the end of it, or replace it entirely! The InfoBox Module is licensed per server. However, if you purchase either the Favorites or Custom Tab Modules, we'll give you a license of the InfoBox Module as a bonus!

Shared Features

The modules are built on a framework that will allow us to develop new horizontal, wide-use applications like those above, but can also serve as a foundation for us to create customer-specific modules. Below are some of the features that choosing to create a common framework lends to the Modules.

Multi-Lingual Capabilities: The SNAPP-On Modules are all multilingual out of the box, and a new language can be added in a matter of minutes - either by you or by SNAPPS as a service to our customers (at no charge). Each language we add will become part of the template until we have support for all the languages Quickr itself supports. The current list of languages is: English, German, French, Swedish, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese. If you download the eval and want another language, jut let us know and we'll add it in. If you are using Quickr 8.5 (beta or GA when it comes), the server itself is multi-lingual. If you are using Quickr 8.1 or 8.2, our Modules will translate to the language of the user's browser, while the server will remain in the language it was installed.

Simple 5-Minute Installation: In the most common scenario, the installation process involves placing a single database on your Quickr server, signing it with the server ID, and placing a single line of code into a file on the Quickr server. Then when you receive your license key, pasting it into a form. Done. We don't even require a server restart, the Modules just start working straight away! This is for Quickr 8.2 and 8.5 - slightly more is involved for Quickr 8.1 as it was based on an earlier version of Domino.

Selective Module Presentation: We've included security options on the Modules, so you can choose who gets to see and use them (and the licenses!). For instance, if you have a Quickr extranet and only want your employees to use Favorites, you can simply add a group to a field on the Favorites Module and it will remain invisible from your external users.

License Governance Built-In: The way we've developed the Modules, you will never be out of License compliance. They will only run on designated servers and will only work for up to the purchased number of users. If you hit your License count, new end users do not see the Module, but an administrator will see an unobtrusive dialog indicating the license count is at its maximum. In a world of regulations and audited software licensing, we decided to make it easy on our clients!

Evaluating SNAPP-On Modules

After angsting for a few weeks about building a new website, registration process, and all the beta testing involved with just the evaluation process, we decided to use what we already had - QuickrTemplates.com. Thousands of Quickr users, administrators and developers are already registered there, so we have built a second tab (once you're logged in) for Product Evals. It was very important to us to keep it clear that everything on the primary list of templates is still free! If it's been a while since you've logged into QuickrTemplates.com (and it shouldn't be - we updated the freebies just a couple weeks ago), simply enter your email address and click "Reset Password" and you'll get a new password immediately. Then log in, click on Product Evals, and all you need is right there on one page - downloads, instructions, and the key request file.

I'm looking forward to hearing back from some of you about our first product launch in seven years...we're rusty at this, but hope you like it.

Enjoy!
-Rob

Posted by Rob Novak At 3:27 PM Location SNAPPS Glactic Headquarters | Permalink | Comments (2)

Category @CollabU
Alright, maybe that's a little too much of my guilt complex there, as our real reason for posting the sessions so late has been the newness (Sametime 8.5.1 shipping just last week and Quickr 8.5 still in beta!) of the information. It took many code drop to determine whether widget extension was more important than proxy servers, lists trumped out LTPA tokens, and tuning tools were a part of the mix!

So - with the session list posted (mixing up the order and printed agenda until the conference!) here, we're humbled but pleased to extend early registration a couple weeks to Friday, August 27. I know some of you have contacted me indicating you needed an agenda to convince your boss, so now you have it! The vetting experience was handled in fine fashion with shotgun emails but everyone weighed in and we agree we have an all-new, winner schedule for 2010.

Got questions about the content? Ask here, or follow @CollabU on Twitter! We'll fill in a few more (such as keynotes) as information becomes available, but the 27 sessions you see here are the core.

See you in London or Chicago!

Posted by Rob Novak At 12:22 PM Location SNAPPS Glactic Headquarters | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category SNAPP-On
For more than ten years, SNAPPS has customized, enhanced and created business process improvements for IBM Lotus Quickr, impacting millions of users worldwide. We've developed custom solutions for IBM's biggest customers and IBM themselves, given away tons of free templates, tools, code, and even an iPhone app. Now, we're going even further to enhance your collaboration experience by introducing SNAPP-On Modules for Lotus Quickr.

About SNAPP-On Modules
SNAPP-On Modules for Lotus Quickr are quite simply enhancements to the core product that Quickr users around the world need to make their collaboration experience more productive, easier, and more intuitive. Each module extends the "My Places" area of the product, adding functionality, new tabs, and even customizations unique to a particular company. The first two generally available SNAPP-On Modules are "Favorites" and "Custom HTML," with several more planned and options for custom modules.

Favorites is a commonly requested feature for Quickr and exists in the J2EE version but not the Domino version. Consulting companies including SNAPPS have designed interfaces for many companies to have a Favorites feature, but each of these efforts has been unique to the client. Now, we've taken an approach that with one line of code and a single Domino database, enables this enhancement to the Quickr experience for everyone in your organization.

What are Favorites? A common problem with any multi-level collaboration environment (lots of places to go) is that individuals have membership in many places, and while this enables them to access critical resources it also presents an organization and navigation problem. Imagine being a product manager with access to 50 team places, but only working on five of them actively. Scrolling around, trying to remember the name of places, and navigating through many screens to find that one critical document or place is tedious and takes productive time away. By using the Favorites Module, you can simple mark a place as a Favorite and a link to it appears at the top of the My Places tab, where it can be put in order, renamed to something specific to the user, or removed from the list with a single click. Down in the My Places list, a gold star appears next to any place that has already been marked as a Favorite, and a link to add and remove them from the list is on the same line.

The Custom HTML Module gives you the ability to add your own tab to the My Places area, and place anything on that tab - from simple HTML with images to complex JavaScript and deep functionality. The new tab is server-wide, so it can be used for common purposes such as Privacy Policies, Company News, System Statistics, links to email administrators, password reset requests - the possibilities are limited only by your development needs. And, if you do not have web developers on staff, SNAPPS can build the Custom HTML Module for you.

The Modules support multiple languages natively, and you can even add your own language if we haven't translated it for you. Installation is very simple and doesn't even require a server restart in most instances. The Modules work with Quickr (Domino version only) 8.2, 8.5, and even 8.1 with a little additional installation work.

How Much?
SNAPP-On Modules are priced based upon whether the individual module is designed for all users, a subset of users, administrators only, or server-wide. Initial pricing for the Favorites SNAPP-On Module ranges from $2.50 to $5.00 per user (100 user minimum) depending on quantity, and the Custom HTML Module is initially priced at $995. Enterprise licenses are available. Additional programming services are also available including the development of specific modules for your company. Upgrades, maintenance, and technical support are included in the price for one year, then renewable annually.

What's Next?
Modules under development include modules for administrators to more easily administer the server, aggregation modules that will combine data from multiple places, messaging and workflow modules, user activity modules, and modules to manage users across multiple places.

Contact Us:
For a demonstration or quotation please contact us at 1-913-440-0000, or via e-mail at licensing at snapps dot com.

Posted by Rob Novak At 3:33 PM Location SNAPPS Glactic Headquarters | Permalink | Comments (1)

Category Sametime
From IBM Channel Comms:

On Tuesday, July 27, IBM announced that IBM Lotus Sametime 8.5.1 would be generally available (GA) for customers and IBM Business Partners to install today, Thursday, July 29.  Unfortunately, we identified an issue during the build process and have opted to delay the GA release by up to two weeks.    

We understand that some Sametime customers will be impacted by this delay and apologize for the inconvenience.  However, IBM takes product quality very seriously.  

We will use the SametimeBlog to provide updates if anything changes.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact one of us here on the blog or your IBM Sales Representative.

Please visit the SametimeBlog for the official communication.  If you have any questions, please contact product management.

Posted by Rob Novak At 5:16 PM Location SNAPPS Glactic Headquarters | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category Collaboration University
Just a quick reminder to anyone who doesn't receive newsletters or the mailings that Collaboration University 2010, the only conference dedicated to Lotus Quickr and Sametime, will bump its registration fees over the weekend. This is the fifth year and eleventh and twelfth installations of Collaboration University, and we (SNAPPS, Turtle Partnership, Connectria, Epilio, and BE Systems/Bluewave) are thrilled at the prospect of educating and demonstrating techniques, best practices, and features in Sametime and Quickr 8.5.

A little content information has been posted here, and we're working hard on the full agenda (which is no small feat with one of the products still in super secret beta!). But you can expect:

--All new technical content, with all new product releases
--New cross-product sessions for integrated environments (where are those log files again?!)
--The introduction of management, strategy, innovation and collaboration culture topics - critical success factors for any installation

So sometime late Sunday night or early Monday morning, we'll bump the fee up $100 to the July rate. Or, it might wait until I've landed in New Hampshire Monday afternoon, as I have to be awake at 4:30 for my flight...hence the "ish" in the title!

Hope to see you there in London or Chicago!

Posted by Rob Novak At 11:30 AM Location SNAPPS Glactic Headquarters | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category What's Going On
After an intense few weeks of "delivery" on a project whereby a terabyte or so of data moved across the pond and 12,000 users were renamed in LDAP in two shiny new clusters (geek creds...still got it), I am focusing some time on the business of doing business (rather, making it happen), some travel, and upcoming conferences.

Back to the Future
I'm thrilled to be taking the whole technical gang at SNAPPS to IamLUG in St. Louis in August and especially excited about the new "TackItOn" concept whereby attendees can add a day of focused training on XPages, iPhone/IPad, or Domino Optimization. I announced it here, and all IamLUG attendees are welcome to register for the extra day and a discounted rate!

I've also just announced (moments ago, for the three of you in the yellowverse who don't get my newsletters) that Collaboration University 2010 will end its super-early registration savings of $200 on Sunday, July 4th. You can still get alumni discounts of up to $200, plus webinar savings of $297...it adds up, folks...and I've posted and emailed a little more detail on the content as we shape up the agenda. It's not an easy task when one of the products is still in managed beta, but I can guarantee this year will have more "new" to it than any of the ten previous installations!

On the horizon, of course, I am looking at ILUG in Belfast in November, and possibly even Tri-State LUG in October as it has the unique quality of being days away from a wedding that will take me east anyway!

Back to Now
In the near term, I will be spending next week in New Hampshire...both having meetings and substitute-dog-sitting for Carl Tyler's beautiful lab Jessie! I'm looking forward to spending a couple days with Gab and Tim Davis, partners in crime and business (not at the same time, don't read too much into this, beloved customers) and meeting with some folks about Quickr now and future.

The following week, I head to Tampa with Viktor and Jerald for a short training assignment - Dojo and XPages - and of course while there's much to see and do in Tampa, I hope to visit with both our training client and another enterprise customer based there. Afterwards, the guys will come home while I drive 3 hours south to Naples to visit with my dad, stepmom, and 93-year-old grandparents. Every chance I get...

So while I juggle travel schedules, proposals, new clients, and conferences, I'm also managing to get a bit of writing done for my newsletter and have more frequent blogging in mind. There will be some changes to the newsletter this time, as I am broadening its scope outside the two products Sametime and Quickr and into the collaboration and innovation world as a whole. In fact, the next one will feature either one or two guest columns on innovation and collaboration strategy. I'm very excited about this gradual change and hope to be able to appeal to a wider audience while still meeting the geek needs of my fellow technicians.

Back to the Future II
More to come. Oh, and a product announcement in July. Haven't done that in seven years. Should be fun.

Posted by Rob Novak At 12:13 PM Location SNAPPS Glactic Headquarters | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category SNAPPS Licenses
Over the years, SNAPPS has been primarily a high-end services organization. We started in 1997 as a one-man show, writing commercial and corporate Notes applications. In 1999, we added a bit of hosting (back then it wasn't referred to as cloud computing, not even hosting, one was an ASP - application service provider - a term that fell out of favor a few years later). That has had its ups and downs. But essentially, it's the same idea, plus eleven years. There have been technological innovations and bandwidth improvements year over year that make this model more attractive - for some.

In 2002, before it was cool, we started Giving away Code in Great ways. The idea was to feed into our consulting business. That worked OK, we brought on many enterprise clients based on word of mouth, buzz, and even the occasional movie.

In 2006, we started Collaboration University, which to this day (our 11th and 12th iterations coming in September!) I still believe is a great concept - partners and experts organizing and delivering a focused, small conference on their own. No sponsors, and no intermediaries. And it's a blast.

Two years ago, we got pretty heavily into government business - as subject matter experts, not engineers. While I'm unable to disclose the exact nature of the work, many of you have taken some clues from what I have been able to say here on my blog and at Lotusphere. That has been more fun than I thought it would be, despite the paperwork. And believe me, you think you have paperwork...? I laugh at your paperwork...  Seriously, more than 3,000 US Government solicitations are posted every WEEK. Check it out. fbo.gov.

But the one thing we at SNAPPS have never done, however, is sell licenses for IBM. Or anyone else, for that matter (except ourselves, with the occasional ISV-esque tools we build). Why, as it seems we quite obviously have all the skills to do so? We understand how it works. A deeply embedded and personal disdain for commoditization is the likely culprit. We know the products, and heck, I've taught (preached, evangelized) a sales session to other partners and IBMers at Lotusphere for six years, poking fun at commoditization every chance I get. But at the same time, we've helped IBM reps directly close hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales over the years - likely millions indirectly (by using our code to demo -- exactly 1,187 IBMers have downloaded our Quickr Templates for instance).

There's also the issue of the aforementioned paperwork. Selling licenses isn't difficult from the value proposition, meeting business objectives, or creating innovative solutions to business process issues (that's the benefit of having provided consulting for so long). But actually being part of the "channel," as reported by many a friend in the industry, involves a lot of paper. NDAs, tests, SVI, SVP, GPP, Industry networks, sales "plays," incentives, mastery exams, Partnerworld levels, points, worldwide enterprises, country enterprises, Prometric testing IDs...I could go on - and that's just the IBM side of the equation. To sell software, you also have to have a relationship with a distributor. They're called VADs. To get one of those, you have to pass a credit check, fill out tons of forms, have them hook up numbers that relate back to your Partnerworld IDs, and ultimately, when a customer wants a quote (or they have one prepared by IBM), you ask the distributor for their quote to you. If you're lucky, there will be some margin in there - and of course there is, a little, sometimes a little more depending on things like special bids, special deals, and how much you actually sell. Then you have the client procurement issues to deal with, and the VAD rules and regs, and "registering" the sale so it counts for you in the IBM supercomputers. Say the client pays in 60 days and you get 30 to pay the VAD - that just won't do, so you have to build the same trust relationships (albeit at a different level than senior management) that you do as a high-end services organization.

Sounds like kind of a pain, huh?

Well, I went ahead and did all that last month. So today I'm announcing that to round out the value-laden consulting engagements on which we've always been focused, SNAPPS is officially open for business and can sell licenses, in the US, across the Lotus brand. The number of companies that can say that is about to get much smaller, since IBM is in the process of implementing new rules this year whereby a company needs to be "authorized" to sell a brand - a process of (you guessed it) lots of paperwork, multiple sales and technical certifications, and enrollment in programs designed to track whether you're, well, in the program. Portal's already gone over, Quickr, Sametime and Connections go next month on July 19th, and Domino goes in January 2011. We'll be authorized in all three, ready to help.

Do I have a lot to learn? Sure. But as I find out, I will share our stories (what I can share, anything public) here on LotusRockStar. And, as we get into the world of license sales for our clients, we're planning to really add the "value" bit at the beginning of that acronym.

Now I am going to share a secret. It's not a secret among partners, but is pretty hush-hush in the channel (until the tempest kicks in which is infrequent and shuts down quickly). You know that software maintenance "Quote" you get from IBM every year that looks suspiciously like an invoice? You don't really have to buy directly from IBM. At the bottom right corner in 0.2-point type is the proviso that you can indeed buy from your Business Partner, just reference the quote number. Partners have been dealing with this for years by tracking their clients on calendars and checking in with them to try to keep the business when IBM sends out those quotes. Don't get me wrong, IBM has a good reason for sending them out automated like that. They have no idea if the partner is still in a good client relationship, or for that matter even exists. So they get a pass on that. Sort of. My point is, you can buy from an IBM Lotus Business Partner and realize a lot of benefits that don't come with the dry transactional aspect of the direct renewal.

Guess what happens when you do that? The Business Partner (VAR, SVI, SVP, many other TLAs) can likely (but not always) give you a small discount, because they have a bit of a margin to work with. From our friend and future sage Wikipedia: "Resellers may have pre-negotiated pricing that enables them to discount more than a customer would receive by purchasing directly. This is because a reseller has already qualified for higher-tiered discounting due to previous engagements with other clients, and the strategic partnership between the vendor and VAR inherently brings the vendor more business." They likely (here's where the V and A kick into VAR) can also provide additional advice, services, and support in addition to the support you receive from IBM. Some partners even act as a proxy for their clients, opening support tickets and escalating them faster than possible if the client calls direct, because they add a ton of experience and pre-support diagnostics to the experience. They do more than just computing your PVUs and CALs. Maybe, if they happen to have a mature, value-driven and integrity bound consulting practice, they have the ability to advise you on a strategy level, if that's part of their bag of tricks (hint...it's part of my bag of tricks).

All you have to do, good customer, is be a good customer and pay your reseller on time, preferably a few days early to account for mail, so they can maintain good credit with the distributor.

What could be easier?

Next time you get a quote from IBM, or it's time to renew and your old partner isn't around, you need advice on licensing, computations, or want a software quote, you just like me, or heck if you're one of those 1,200 IBMers who'd like to say thanks for the assist, you may now contact us at licensing@snapps.com. Bring on the paperwork.

Thanks for reading. Back to your work.

Posted by Rob Novak At 2:34 PM Location SNAPPS Glactic Headquarters | Permalink | Comments (3)

Category SNAPPS Quickr
I would like to invite a select group of Lotus Quickr customers* (8.1, 8.2, and/or 8.5** beta participants) to a special webcast this Wednesday where Viktor Krantz and I will unveil a series of potential extensions to Lotus Quickr being considered by SNAPPS for commercialization. We haven't sold products for a while, and have given away millions in free software, but this stuff is so valuable to so many customers that we want to run it by a small group of customers before making a final investment in development.

We will be demonstrating concepts of extensibility that have never been done in Quickr before, including one of the most often-requested features by Quickr (and all predecessor names) customers. As well, we will solicit input to let you give us ideas for customer-specific (bespoke, my European friends) extensions.

This will not be a sales pitch, and will not be the run-of-the-mill awesomeness that we usually do on stage. This is very early stage stuff, but we don't want to go too far without real customers providing feedback.

This webcast event will be held this Wednesday, June 9 at 10 AM CDT. It will consist of about 20 minutes of demonstration, a quick discussion of our initial goals with the framework, and then we will open it up for questions and your feedback.

*This webcast is by invitation only. To request an invitation, you must be a Lotus Quickr Domino customer or are in active evaluation of Quickr, must have a minimum deployment or planned deployment of 250+ users, and must request an invitation via email to me: rnovak at snapps dot com.

In the email, you must include contact info, let me know your current or planned Quickr deployment size (both servers and users), the name of your Lotus sales representative, and you must use a corporate email address. Of course, your information will not be shared with anyone. Upon confirmation (or if I already know you), you will receive an acknowledgement. On Wednesday morning, one hour before the webinar, you will receive a link. Your identity in the webinar will be visible (we will be using GoToMeeting for integrated audio).

So again, send me:

1. Corporate contact info - customers only - including your country so we can arrange phone service if possible
2. Deployment statistics - number of servers, users
3. IBM sales rep name (specifically Lotus/advanced collab sales rep if you have one, or named account rep if you have that)

If you are an IBM sales rep and would like to have your customer included, please introduce us via email and confirm their availability. Spots are limited by the webinar's capacity.

**We will not be demonstrating anything specific to Quickr 8.5, which is under NDA. What we're working on will have the capability to extend Quickr 8.1, 8.2, or 8.5.

See you online!

Posted by Rob Novak At 12:56 PM Location SNAPPS Glactic Headquarters | Permalink | Comments (0)

Category Case Study Domino Notes
A few months ago, SNAPPS was tasked with the development of some pretty interesting capabilities for a Domino intranet application, and produced some innovations that I thought I would share here. This falls under the category of "I had no idea you could do that," so I'll explain. (P.S. for those of you who think of us just as the Quickr guys, we actually do more high-end Domino and integration work than Quickr, even though that practice is still substantial. Who knew? Deep bench.)

Scenario
The central bank of another country (Americans, think "Federal Reserve") has the task of processing all manner of paperwork for foreign individuals and corporations who seek to invest either in companies or real estate in their country. This information - all standard forms - originates from the individuals or corporations (or their lawyers) and is submitted to one branch of the company's government. From there, the forms are sent to the central bank where they are evaluated, scanned, and stored in perpetuity. Once all the documentation requirements are met, the bank is able to do business with the foreign entity. Pretty straightforward legal stuff, with about 25-30 forms involved. It's all tracked in Lotus Notes with back end connections to a plethora of relational databases and an ECM. Not bad, they had been well organized for years because of this investment.

Problem
The business challenge had always been the handoff from the government to the bank, and communication back to the foreign individual or company about what was still required of them. Couriers, mail, and document shipments were unwieldy and caused human error, lost time, and confusion when coding the forms and associating them with the right entity. Automation and process improvement was necessary, and as the bank was already a Lotus Notes shop, a Domino application seemed the perfect solution.

The devil is always in the details, of course. The new intranet application had to integrate with the current Notes application (no brainer), initiate the same workflow (a little more brains required), produce PDFs on the fly for the web user (head scratcher), automatically notify the foreign entity of the missing documentation (whew), and generate two different kinds of bar codes on the PDFs (whoa).

Solution
Since it's now in place, allow me to switch to present tense. When the government agency fills out the online form indicating which documents they are going to submit, two things happen. For the forms they DO have already, the Domino system spits out "cover pages" with bar codes identifying the documentation. The agency then prints these PDF cover pages, places them in front of the documents to be submitted, and securely scans them directly to an ECM at the bank that is already designed to accept and categorize them based on the bar codes.

What about the forms they DON'T have already, but are still required? For those, an email is sent to the originator (the foreign person or corporation) with the remainder of the PDF cover pages for the missing documents, with instructions on how to submit them. When the documents are ready, they either fax/scan them in themselves or mail them to the government agency who does it for them.

With this application, the central bank now has eliminated human error, has a no-touch paperless (a.k.a. "greener") system for processing the hundreds of pages of documentation required of these individuals and businesses, and the government, bank, and foreign entity all have confidence that the required documentation is processed rapidly and efficiently. All because of Lotus Notes, IBM back end systems, and some toolkit wizardry with PDF generation and bar code printing via the web. Oh yeah, The Amazing Julian figured out those fun toolkit bits.

Customization, Innovation & ROI
This isn't the kind of solution you wake up and architect. It's the kind you figure out when you have a team that's been working with business processes for 15-20 years, applying innovative solutions to challenging problems. It's the kind that, when you look back, is elegant in its simplicity and still produces a great return on the client's investment - one that will last for years while making the client appear (and truly be) cutting-edge. It's what we like to do because the value is clear and the work is fun.

The moral of my story is this. Next time you're faced with a draconian corporate edict of "no customization" think about this case. Think about the environmental impact of your processes, and think about the time and money that the muckety-mucks' supposedly cost-cutting decision can truly cost in the long run. Innovation and customization isn't always the right approach, but sometimes, it's just a no-brainer.

Posted by Rob Novak At 9:37 AM Location SNAPPS Glactic Headquarters | Permalink | Comments (2)

Category IamLUG


No Brainer:
You are going to IamLUG August 2-3 already, aren't you. Yes, you are. Who would want to miss a great, free, 300 person user group in St. Louis? Beyond that, who would want to miss me, Viktor Krantz, Ed Brill, Troy Reimer, Julian Robichaux, Jerald Mahurin, Matt White, Chris Miller, Kathy Brown, Paul Calhoun, Tom Duff, Marie Scott, Jess Stratton, and more of the Lotus Illuminati on stage? Seriously.

For our session, we're reprising our Lotusphere 2010 session as "Not Too Much, Not Too Little, Just Right! Give Your Users Applications That Fit Their Jobs!" I thought about going with a Goldilocks theme, but Viktor refused to wear the outfit. Which is strange given his propensity to dress up. In this session, we will show you how admins, developers and end users of all kinds can work together to exploit Domino and Notes while giving them just the right tools for them to be productive.

And Viktor, Troy and Jerald are on tap to deliver a session called "Whatever We Can Tell You About Quickr 8.5" - which in reality, if and when the NDA evaporates, will be a deep dive into the serious changes in the Quickr product from an end user, developer, and admin's point of view! This all-encompassing hour of Quickr goodness will be full of surprises, and in fact will be a preview of the kinds of things you'll learn at the September 27-29 Collaboration University conference in Chicago. Oh yes, you are going to that, too. Aren't you?

Last but definitely not least, Julian Robichaux will be joining us at IamLUG from the SNAPPS-lanta office, and has yet to decide what in his bag of tricks he would like to submit for a session. Whatever it is, it will be awesome as usual.

If you're going, and you are, then your travel expenses have already been approved (or you're working on it). So while you are there, why not stay an extra day at the ridiculously low conference hotel rate and get a full day of focused training on August 4th? Why not indeed!

Announcing "Tack It On" - a third day of training in conjunction with IamLUG! You can choose from three seminars, attractively priced with discounts for IamLUG attendees:

XPages 101: Matt White in association with Elguji Software
iPhone Development for Business: Julian Robichaux, Viktor Krantz, Rob Novak from SNAPPS
Domino Optimization Tour-Stop One: Chris Miller, Consultant in Your Pocket

For more details, first register for IamLUG here (you have to be registered to get the promotional code!) then swing on by http://tackiton.com/iamlug to register for the one day seminar of your choice...

See you in St. Louis!

Posted by Rob Novak At 11:24 AM Location SNAPPS Glactic Headquarters | Permalink | Comments (1)