Lotus admits support for Outlook is only partial

Lotus has admitted that customers who use the Microsoft Outlook messaging and calendar client with the Domino groupware server won't get full Outlook functionality under a new scheme announced this week.

Outgoing chief executive Jeff Papows announced at Lotusphere, Walt Disney World, Florida earlier this week that Lotus will support Outlook as an alternative client for the Domino server, using the new iNotes product that enables users to access Domino from clients other than Notes.

However, after a sceptical response from some analysts, Lotus has admitted that users will only get 85 per cent to 90 per cent of Outlook functionality when they use it with Domino.

Donna Carvalho, Notes and Domino product manager, said: "Eight-five to ninety per cent of what people do every day will be available when iNotes ships. The end user experience will be similar to what they have today."

One feature of Outlook that definitely won't work with Domino is Room Scheduling. Clark said there is a list of functions that won't be available because, according to Lotus customer research, they are used so rarely.

Ashim Pal, senior analyst at Meta Group, said: "It's not yet clear what level of detail iNotes will provide, but users should not expect full features."

The IBM subsidiary has had a strong year and in the fourth quarter of last year it added 8.5 million new Notes users, bringing its total worldwide user base to 56 million.

But Papows assured customers and developers at Lotusphere that after 10 years of developing Notes, Lotus had not thrown in the towel in the corporate messaging client battle.

"We have not conceded the client market here, not one inch," he told the 5000-strong audience.

However, Papows later admitted he didn't know what impact the move would have on Lotus' share of the messaging market. He said it could even reduce it.

"There are a lot of Office users today who are not Domino users, so we'll give some ground in places and gain some in others. I'm confident that in the [market] share wars, both companies are going to compete effectively," he said.

At the end of 1999, Lotus had 41 per cent of the worldwide messaging client market, compared with Microsoft's 34 per cent and Novell's 18 per cent, according to IDC.

Analyst Clive Longbottom at Strategy Partners said the news was a clear admission by Lotus of the popularity of Outlook. But he cautioned that previous announcements of Lotus compatibility with Microsoft products have not deliveredsmooth interoperability.