Post on 14-Dec-2015
Lotus Notes - the University of Nebraska Experience
Greg GrayUniversity of Nebraska Central AdministrationComputing Services Network
L in c o ln (U N L )
U n iv e rs ity o f N eb rask a -L in co ln :th e s ta te 's lan d -g ran t, A A U an d
C arn eg ie I R esea rch U n iv e rs ity
O m a h a (U N M C )
U n iv e rs ity o f N eb rask a M ed ica l
C en te r: A h ea lth sc ien ce cen te r
O m a h a (U N O )
U n iv e rs ity o f N eb rask a a tO m ah a : A m etro p o litan
u n iv e rs ity
K e a r n e y (U N K )
U n iv e rs ity o f N eb rask a a tK ea rn ey : A co m p reh en siv e
u n iv e rs ity
N eb ra sk a 's F o u r C a m p u s U n iv ers ity
University of Nebraska
• Involved with the coordination, implementation, support, planning, strategy, etc. for Lotus Domino and Notes at the University of Nebraska
• Team lead for our Domino Administrators.
My role in the Notes implementation:
Presentation Topics:
• History on decision to use Lotus Notes
• How are we rolling out Notes
• How are we supporting Notes
• Groupware capabilities
• Problems
• Future plans
Pre Lotus Notes Problems:Pre Lotus Notes Problems:
• The University of Nebraska was supporting an estimated 30 separate e-mail systems.This had created, to name a few…..– user frustration– computer support problems– connecting the systems together was a logistical nightmare– lost documents– little to no security: copying, forwarding, who got it?– impossible to find e-mail addresses– sending mail was unreliable– ever increasing support costs– calendaring & scheduling was impossible– no University wide workflow capabilities
University of Nebraska E-Mail System – University of Nebraska E-Mail System – Pre Lotus Notes network designPre Lotus Notes network design
How did we get to Lotus NotesHow did we get to Lotus Notes
• The University of Nebraska was frustrated -- We had a “technological tower of babbletechnological tower of babble”.
• We discussed the possibility of connecting the various e-mail systems together by using one large directory, for example, SoftSwitch. It was decided it would more cost effective to go to one unified e-mail system vs. a large directory.
• In early 1996 a university wide team was appointed to study the issue of a standard university e-mail system.
The University wide team….
• reviewed functional & technical requirements, and compared them with leading vendor-supplied e-mail packages.
• installed & tested several e-mail versions, including Lotus Notes, GroupWise, and Microsoft Exchange.
• the key evaluation criteria included start-up costs, ease of use, functionality, ability to move documents freely, ability to calendar & schedule across campuses, potential for distance education, usage, maintenance, training, and overall support.
• the clear consensus was that Lotus Notes was the best product at that time and in the foreseeable future.
• on Saturday, February 22, 1997 the University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved the use of Lotus Notes as the standard e-mail, calendaring & scheduling system to be used university wide.
Deployment PlanDeployment Plan
• Created a Lotus Notes Management Team – (U-Wide collaboration)– They work together in reviewing & approving major Technical
Team recommendations as well as ensure each campus is working towards or has what it needs to reach the same common goal.
• Created a Lotus Notes Technical Team – (U-Wide collaboration)– They work together in administering and maintaining the
production Domino/Notes environment.
Domino Server infrastructure
• Single Domain with mail servers at each campus that can replicate changes back to a “Hub” server.
• This configuration provides numerous features, for example,
– a common address book
– automatic mail routing between servers & users
– the ability to share applications or complete groupware activities
• Support of the mail server infrastructure is completed by a small number of administrators who are from each campus and the University of Nebraska Computing Services Network.
Current Deployment Status
• Currently at 50, 000 Lotus Notes users university wide
– Primarily using the Lotus Notes client
– Also using Web Mail or POP3 & IMAP clients
– Currently upgrading Lotus Notes clients to R5
– Still to do:
- Students and remaining faculty & staff from one campus
• All Domino mail servers are R5.x
• Final number of users - approximately 65,000
Application DevelopmentApplication Development
• Pockets of application development are occurring university wide which has caused some confusion. This is causing us to look at the University wide approach.
• Discussing the possible creation of a U-Wide Notes Application Development Team.
Non-mail Examples of using Domino/Notes
• Pegboard
• Expense vouchers
• Package Delivery
• Document Library
• Discussion database
• Resource Reservation database
• User Management
• Time Sheet Recording
• Employee Maintenance System
• Skills Inventory
• Request for Leave
Problems• Implementing Notes
– Accepting change
– As more users are added the environment keeps growing
• Duplicate student user names
• Number of user names in the Address Book
• Hardware / Software
– Notes client requirements - hardware
– Mac Notes client – pre-R5.x
– Installation of Notes client software
– Use of other POP3 or IMAP clients
• Academic environment
– Many flavors of equipment and methods
Future Plans
• Distance Education
• Knowledge management
• Collaboration
– SameTime
– Quickplace
• Workflow to SAP
• Groupware Applications
• Partnering with the State of Nebraska and others