IBM Engage May 2018 in Rotterdam

2018 was all about IBM events. In addition to DNUG and IBM THINK, IBM Engage 2018 will be the focus here. The conference, which took place from 22-23 May 2018, was a very special event this time, as the SS Rotterdam was chosen as a very special venue. The former liner ship, today a huge museum and hotel ship did create a very special atmosphere.

On board the SS Rotterdam: Yellow mood only

The target group of the engagement should be “yellow” for the most part, i.e. to appeal to confessing fans and users of IBM Notes or Domino. The product presentations of Bob Schultz and Andrew Manby as well as Richard Jeffs (HCL) naturally found an open ear here. They present the future plans of IBM Collaborations Solutions and the plans for Domino V10. The IBM Collaboration Tools include:

  • IBM Connections: IBM Connections Cloud is software for email, online meetings, instant messaging, file sharing, and collaborative document editing
  • Watson Workspace: Facilitates workflows, meetings and adapts individually to business operations and working methods
  • Box Relay: Create workflows, you can add steps, actions and deadlines
  • Domino: Mobile and secure applications and e-mails. Further development of the database system with e-mail connection

Core topic: Future of IBM Notes and Domino

For two and a half days, the event was able to spread a special spirit of optimism and focused on the partnership between IBM and HCL. The main objective was to receive feedback from the community and to present new ideas. Domino Version 10 was one of the main topics. The integration of node.js was particularly emphasized here. And the Domino Version 11 already offers a preview of 2019. Under the keyword “No Code”, users should be able to write applications themselves without writing code. An exciting concept that should be observed in the future. Another highlight was the news about IBM Notes, that in the future Notes applications should be usable on the iPad. That was one of the topics of the engagement, which was strongly discussed. Advantages and disadvantages were discussed here.

In general, Notes applications should be tuned for mobile use with as little effort as possible. Initially, mobile use was only about iPads. Android tablets will not be available until 2019. Whether it will be possible in the near future to open Notes applications on the iPhone or with an Android mobile phone, however, remained unclear.

Conclusion of the Engage 2018

The Engage was again able to attract around 400 participants to Rotterdam. The two conference days were full of information and announcements. The latest developments on:

  • IBM Notes
  • IBM Connections
  • IBM Watson
  • Watson Analytics

were the focus of attention. More information can be found in the packed Session Agenda and in the Session Details.