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$20,000 for converting MS Exchange users to IBM Lotus Notes on Linux

That is $20 per switched MS Exchange user to Lotus Notes on Linux user. There is some coverage on this here and here. This is quite a lot of money to woo users off the Microsoft platform.

The Seatle PI nicely summarizes the promo:

In a campaign called “Migrate to the Penguin,” IBM will offer rebates of $20 per user switched, with a maximum of $20,000, the company said in an e-mailed statement. IBM says it has switched almost 3,000 customers to its Lotus Notes and Domino in the past two years from e-mail programs including Microsoft Exchange.

There is also some interesting Slashdot commentary on this. Most of them state that moving from MS Exchange to Lotus Notes is just moving from one closed and proprietary platform to another and that this does not do much for Open Source.

Well my take on this is … all hail the Big Blue for championing the Linux operating system. Let them move to closed Lotus Notes and open Linux first. When users are comfy with Linux then we move them off Lotus. But, seriously, it is a matter of choice. The more choices in the market the better. MS Exchange on MS Windows, Lotus Domino on Linux, Postfix/Courier on Linux … the Philippine Postal Service.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 1st, 2006 at 2:04 pm and is filed under Musings and Speculations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “$20,000 for converting MS Exchange users to IBM Lotus Notes on Linux”

  1. wyuwp Says:
    April 2nd, 2006 at 11:08 am

    The official IBM annoucement can be found here. The mechanics can be summarized as follows:

    IBM is introducing, for a limited time only, a rebate program for eligible IBM Software Resellers who move customers
    from Microsoft Exchange and other competitive products to Lotus Notes and Domino collaborative offerings on Linux. Eligible IBM Software Resellers can receive a rebate for each seat of qualifying “trade up” licenses, up to a maximum of 1,000 seats per Passport Advantage site number or Passport Advantage Express site number. The rebate offers $20 per qualified seat with a maximum rebate of $20,000 per IBM Business Partner. The program is immediately available in the United State and Canada, and will be introduced across the globe during 2006.

    .

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