How to migrate
IBM Lotus Notes to Microsoft SharePoint
brought to you by:
Table of contents
Introduction 3
Reasons for Migrating from IBM Notes to Exchange / SharePoint 4
Concerns about the Future of IBM Notes 4
Integration with Line of Business Software 5
Unification of IT Infrastructure 5
Availability of Knowledge 5
What do you need to know about IBM Notes before migration 6
Quirky Database 6
Application Architecture 7
Parent / Response Document Hierarchy 7
Special Field Types 8
Rights Management 9
Replication Conflicts 9
Lotus Formula and LotusScript 10
Built-In Workflow Capabilities 10
Best Practices for Migrating IBM Notes Applications to SharePoint 11
Identify the Purpose and Business Value of your Application 11
Analyze and design the workflows and Forms 11
Identify Data Connectivity and Interfaces 12
Identify User Roles and Privileges 12
Build the application using a suitable platform 13
Migrating Application Data to Sharepoint 13
Introduction
„
The migration of mailboxes including e-mails, calendars, tasks, address books and archives from IBM Notes to Microsoft Exchange can be significantly
improved using tools like Quest. But if you need to bring IBM Lotus Notes applications to the SharePoint platform, there is more work to do than just
clicking a third-party tool’s migrate button.
IBM Domino, which hasn’t been hot since last millennium but does what lots of legacy software does: stubbornly refuse to be replaced because
some of the apps built on it are useful and/or too painful to replace - Simon Sharwood, The Register.
In most cases, Lotus Notes applications contain more than just forms and views, but consist of business logic and many individually developed
workflows. This means that migrating Lotus Notes applications to a different technology like SharePoint cannot be done automatically. This results
in a need to re-create the application to get the best results out of the new platform. A different architecture means a different approach to implement
a stable and performant application, and one that your users will love.
This is where WEBCON BPS comes in handy, as a true Rapid Application Development (RAD) platform.
Reasons for Migrating from IBM Notes to Exchange / SharePoint
There are many reasons organizations choose to migrate Lotus Notes applications. Our clients most frequently point out the following:
Concerns about the Future of IBM Notes
IBM Notes is stuck on Release 9, which went live in 2013. Although IBM released some Feature Packs afterwards, real development with new features
and significant improvements is nowhere to be seen. This state of affairs has brought about legitimate concerns for IBM customers about the future
of IBM Notes, and whether the platform can still be relied on in the long-term.
„
Many of them have decided to leave the platform, while it still works fine and is supported. Microsoft SharePoint is the most commonly chosen
replacement solution. In October 2017, to stem the growing loss of clients, IBM announced a partnership with HCL to ensure the further development
of new IBM Notes versions. By many, this move were considered “too little, too late”.
22 years later, the Notes/Domino ecosystem is almost always legacy software, long since overrun by Exchange for messaging and myriad
applications for collaboration. IBM didn’t do much wrong with the product, but also didn’t do much right: Notes/Domino worked well, but was
complex, proprietary and lacked a simple client to generate end-user enthusiasm - Simon Sharwood, The Register.
Integration with Line of Business Software
Alongside the drop in popularity of IBM Notes came the decreasing motivation of LOB (e.g. ERP, CRM) vendors to maintain support for integration with
Notes. Should a vendor decide to cease support, many clients could be left with data silos, accelerating the need to migrate away from the platform.
This in turn accelerates the general trend of losing market share.
Unification of IT Infrastructure
The need to have one, unified IT ecosystem is most often realized after mergers and acquisitions. Running different mail and collaboration platforms
in parallel is difficult and requires costly maintenance requiring a vastly different skillset than the organization is engaged in. It’s no surprise then, that
companies are wanting to unify their collaboration platforms to save time and money. In the last couple of years, this decision was mostly made
in favor of the Microsoft Exchange / SharePoint environment. The success of Microsoft’s offer in this field is partly the result of a great availability
of knowledge.
Availability of Knowledge
Most companies want to be aware of their ongoing tech maintenance and further development of their own IT ecosystems. This is where Microsoft
definitely thrives, with knowledge databases, communities focused around forums, blogs and MVPs, with the added bonus of a wide variety
of conferences. All of these points help provide a significant sense of security. Whether the organization choose to handle their IT systems themselves
or not, there’s plenty of skilled people available to assist them for a fair price.
What do you need to know about IBM Notes before migration
Before launching the migration of Notes applications to SharePoint, you have to be aware of some individual characteristics of the IBM Notes platform,
so that you can prepare accordingly. Here are the most important ones:
Quirky Database
The first quirk is that it uses a flexible document database rather than a relational database (like MS SQL Server used by SharePoint). There is some basic
structure to it, but it is not consistent and you cannot rely on fields being present across different documents. There is no relational integrity enforced,
and no constraints, making the data quite chaotic at times.
An individual record is called a document, and fields used to describe it are defined by forms used for the purpose of interacting with documents.
Adding a new field to the form will only affect the newly created and modified documents, but not the ones that were created before the change was
implemented.
A lack of relational structures and integrity means you can expect significant redundancy in a Notes databases, and a need to work with links
to documents. It’s worth keeping in mind that whenever a document that was linked to is deleted, the situation gets increasingly messy.
Some custom code can be written to prevent these issues, but this requires significant additional time and a specific skillset to deliver.
Application Architecture
The complete configurations of applications in IBM notes are stored in the database. That means, all the necessary forms, views, code libraries,
navigations, etc., are stored there. A simple Notes application typically comes with only one database file. However, more complex and modular
applications are spread over multiple databases which requires significant custom coding and configuration to make the database files interact
with one another. This is why the automatic migration of Notes applications to other platform is essentially impossible.
Parent / Response Document Hierarchy
IBM Lotus Notes uses a special document relationship called response or child documents. This relationship allows developers to build a document
hierarchy, which can be drilled down by the user. The document on the top level is called the parent document and can have an unlimited number
of response (child) documents. A response document can have other response documents below it, which can be nested. In a relational context,
this comes near to a 1:n:m relationship.
Special Field Types
IBM Lotus Notes has a variety of fields that work in different ways than the comparable fields do in SharePoint. The reader, author or multi-value fields
are just a few of the fields that should be considered with extra care during a migration.
Reader and author fields contain users, groups and roles, and define which persons have access to documents as reader (visible or not) or author
(can change or delete). A multi-value field stores a list of selected values, which is not only a sequence of characters (string), but also a true list
of values, which can be processed using special LotusScript code and formula functions. Multi-value lists can also be used to categorize views, where
one document appears for each selected value of the list, but physically only exists once in the database.
Finally, we have rich text fields (RTF), which can store anything. You will often find RTF with dozens of attached files and embedded links to other Notes
documents. These doc links point to the Unique ID (UNID) of the target Notes document, and lets users open the document by clicking the link.
Of course, one Notes document can contain more than one RTF. Special field types in Notes and SharePoint should be taken into consideration during
a migration.
Rights Management
Rights management in IBM Lotus Notes is quite flexible. Every Notes database has an access control list (ACL) where users and groups are assigned
to access levels and roles. These roles can be defined individually for each database application. Using roles instead of users and groups makes it easier
to maintain access rights. While flexible, rights management are a big challenge when migrating to another platform like SharePoint, because
of the difference in concepts and architecture.
The advantage of using a system like WEBCON BPS for migration is that it combines SharePoint privileges (for sites and pages) with proprietary rights
management. Tasks can be assigned based on roles, as well as groups in SharePoint and Active Directory. Additionally, privileges can be dynamically
increased or decreased during the course of the business process.
Replication Conflicts
IBM Notes is famous for its replication capability, which offers a highly sophisticated, bi-directional synchronization engine for Notes databases.
Replication can be controlled down to the field level, which reduces the amount of synchronized data dramatically. Replication can be configured
between two IBM Domino servers, or servers and IBM Notes clients. This remains the best technology available for taking databases away on your
notebook and synchronizing the data in both directions within seconds.
But if the same documents have been changed both on the server and client sides, you will encounter a replication conflict. IBM Notes stores both
version of the document (original and conflict) in the database, allowing users can decide which document should survive. Migrating data from IBM
Notes to SharePoint therefore means dealing with existing replication conflicts.
Lotus Formula and LotusScript
Implementing business logic in IBM Lotus Notes database applications is usually done with the Notes Formula language and LotusScript. Both are
proprietary and cannot be migrated automatically. Fortunately, modern low-code solutions are available that offer graphical business rules editors that
can easily replicate the logic of the original IBM Notes applications.
Built-In Workflow Capabilities
If you understand Workflow to mean that documents follow a predefined routing path, and tasks are assigned to users, then yes, IBM Notes has built-in
workflow capabilities. But without using third-party workflow tools, you cannot design and model any process. The complete document routing
workflow must be coded using LotusScript. You cannot define workflow steps, configure actions or task assignments. Everything must be coded.
This of course results in a potential maintenance nightmare
If you use tools like GEDYS IntraWare, definition and configuration of workflows is reduced, but you still lack a graphical workflow designer.
This continues to make the implementation of complex processes quite challenging.
Regardless of whether you hand-coded your workflows into your applications or used a tool, these workflows are part of the business logic and must
also be implemented in SharePoint. Third-party platforms like WEBCON BPS that offer out-of-the-box SharePoint capabilities are often relied
on to quickly and efficiently complete the process.
Best Practices for Migrating IBM Notes Applications to SharePoint
Identify the Purpose and Business Value of your Application
It may seem obvious, but the first step is getting a clear understanding of what the application does and what processes rely on it. What are the inputs
and outcomes expected, and what is the business need the application addresses.
Analyze and design the workflows and Forms
You also need to understand the underlying processes, which is often a bigger challenge because these processes are rarely documented
and frequently involve hard code. The best way to discover and untangle the necessary details of applications is to have interviews with business
owners and users.
The next step is to design the process using a no-code, rapid application development platform like WEBCON BPS, since it offers the benefit
of rapid prototyping. This allows developers to show tangible results quickly, get meaningful feedback, and improve with the speed of achieving final
implementation. One of the biggest advantages of the WEBCON BPS system is its ability to combine all aspects of business applications (workflows,
forms, business rules, data models, etc.) within one framework. As a result, introducing any modifications is quick and easy.
Identify Data Connectivity and Interfaces
IBM Lotus Notes applications, like any other business application, are often integrated with external data sources and systems for bi-directional
information exchange. Unfortunately with IBM Notes, integrations often rely on hard-coded solutions. This reveals yet another reason why automatic
migration of Notes applications is impossible. On the other hand, migrating to SharePoint and using third-party platforms on top of it allows
organizations to leverage pre-configured connections and solve integration issues quickly and in a flexible way.
Identify User Roles and Privileges
Don’t forget to analyze user roles and access rights managements, as you will have to implement it on the SharePoint side as well. A lot of access rights
management can be done within WEBCON BPS, which is a natural and convenient solution because privileges and process flows go side by side.
Build the application using a suitable platform
SharePoint is a powerful platform, but its out-of-the-box capabilities are often not enough to port highly complex business applications delivered
on IBM Notes. This is why many organizations use a 3rd party BPM/RAD platform that works on top of SharePoint to address every possible scenario.
The best solutions will allow you to approach projects in an iterative way. We recommend our clients to divide migration projects into the following phases:
Design – defining how the application will be implemented on the new platform
Pilot implementation – configuration of the new application to work as similarly as the original as possible
Go live and feedback – releasing the application to the employees and gathering feedback
Improvements – introducing enhancements based on collected insights.
Migrating Application Data to Sharepoint
The final step before deploying the application on SharePoint is the migration of data from the IBM Lotus Notes database to the new environment.
This is quite a daunting task, because of the differences in characteristics of Lotus Notes databases and modern solutions.
During the data migration you must also remember that it’s not about simply putting information from one “container” to another. It’s also about
the preservation of workflow statuses, keeping all historical data in order, and defining the proper relationships between workflow instances.
Finding a technological partner with experience and expertise in IBM Notes, Microsoft SharePoint, and BPM/RAD systems like WEBCON BPS helps
ensure a timely and successfully implemented migration.
Do you need assistance migrating from IBM Notes to SharePoint? Let us know how we can help:
VSB is a Lotus Notes expert since 1995, supporting more than 200 Lotus Notes customers across all industries
and for all business sizes.
Their expertise covers Lotus Notes support, development and administration, with a special focus on
workflow solutions.
As a premium WEBCON partner, VSB is strategically positioned to help clients migrate Lotus Notes workflow
applications to the SharePoint platform using WEBCON BPS.
VSB Solutions GmbH
Bamberger Str. 10 +49 9571 9501-0
96215 Lichtenfels
[email protected] Germany www.vsb.de
Andreas Schmidt, CEO of VSB
