Whitepaper
IBM Domino - A great platform for agency
management software
This paper explains why AD-IN-ONE application is built on IBM Domino platform, why we believe IBM
Domino is far better platform for agency than any other technology available on the market.
Requirements for the right agency software platform
When we started to build AD-IN-ONE, we were carefully searching for the right technology platform to
develop, deploy, run and maintain business critical software for next 10+ years.
We realized number of constraints which are very special to advertising and communication agencies.
-
limited or no experience in deployment ERP level of software in the whole agency
limited financial resources – less than 1 000 EUR per user per year including support training and
maintenance
very frequently no internal IT administrator
small distributed teams
people and teams quickly changing (project by project)
no internal personnel experienced in managing IT project
very frequently users with elementary knowledge of working with PC
On the other hand we realized number of requirements for such agency platform
We aim to build the system on platform which:
- is very stable and reliable
- is supported by strong technology company
- allows rich user experience on Macs and PCs
- integrates in one single software all services necessary
- is as secure as possible, definitely more than just login and password used in web browser
- is supported and deployable in various languages and territories from USA to China
- is scalable – right tools for 25 people as well scalable to 1000s people in a single location.
- supports data transfer to mobile devices like iPhone of iPad, Blackberry and Android
- is opened for customizations and custom development
- should be running not only on Microsoft Windows servers but allow to choose other server platforms
- is easy to integrate with third party accountancy and banking systems
- runs on premises as well as SaaS software in big datacenters i.e. Amazon EC Cloud
- allows to work offline without access to the internet
- has low hardware requirements
- has low maintenance requirements
- is deployable in hours or days, not weeks or months
- can be maintained and developed by somebody else than us - the vendor
- is easy to backup
- is secure against viruses
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What we did not pick and why
During the search we were examining Microsoft technologies (ASP.NET, .NET/ MSSQL), Filemaker,
J2EE/Oracle as well as LAMP/PHP/MySQL and other open source technologies and IBM Domino.
We examined as well what competitive package of AD-IN-ONE run on.
Quite a few applications for advertising agencies are based on Filemaker or 4D databases. In better
case on MS SQL or MySQL databases with rich application or browser based client.
Small scope, not customized applications run usually on PHP/MySQL and browser, or Filemaker,
obviously, it is most easy to created such apps.
Some applications run on ASP.NET/MS SQL. This is for sure not bad choice. Microsoft backing and
support of developers is well known. But agencies are running mostly Macs, aren’t they
Some few , bigger international ERP systems for professional services companies run on
J2EE/Oracle.We cannot imagine to run a Oracle infrastructure for an agency of 20 in two offices.
We concluded there is no application platform on the market which would be a straight winner
and fulfill all the requirements.
We do not believe in platforms not backed up by a strong player. We do not believe open source
(Linux/Apache/PHP/MySQL) with only browser client is a right choice for future mainly from the point
of dependency on weak third party development frameworks and keeping all the burden on low-level
development on side on of ISV (Independent Software Vendor) like AD-IN-ONE.
Our vision is give agencies best of breed solution possible for their daily work based on best
possible platform backed by strong player, which guarantees at least 10 next years of
development of the platform.
WHY NOT FILEMAKER OR 4D. We did not pick Filemaker and 4D because we do not believe that
both are good enough platform for enterprise level of solutions. In our experience Filemaker solutions
work well at smaller agencies but start to have performance problems once deployed in bigger
environments users. It looks well, but usually offer limited features and functionality. Filemaker
solutions are usually first choice for in house made agency solutions, their UI looks very pretty, their
Achilles heel is unfortunately performance.
WHY NOT JAVA and ORACLE.
The decision was unfortunate, but easy. We do not believe we would be able to deliver affordable
solution if we pick J2EE/Oracle platform for agencies of 20 – 30 people, who have limited budget. The
price of development as well as price of deployment was out of scope of many smaller (<50 people)
agencies budgets. Java / Oracle solutions are great for banks for sure, but not for agency with 50
people. Overall cost of development, deployment, maintenance and support was simply too high.
WHY NOT MICROSOFT. MS SQL / ASP. NET was a hot candidate. We do not believe in ASP.NET /
MS SQL platform from number of reasons, mainly we do not want to lock out our clients (very often
running Macs) solely into Microsoft Technologies. Another reason why we did not pick MS SQL /
ASP.NET because we wanted the solution to be backwards compatible in next 10 years, what is
pretty often the case with MS software as witnessed in last 15 years. We did not want to develop
solution based on tons third party components, which could easily stop their development and cause
headache to us and our clients who would have the solution already deployed and would not be
happy to lose the functionality. On top of that we didn’t want our clients to get into trap of solution
based on stack of multiple glued products and bind clients together a single vendor and his licensing
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policy. To build on MS technologies a solution similar to what AD-IN-ONE now is requires to employ
at least 3 products (MS Exchange, MS IIS, MS SQL + security and development tools).
WHY NOT OPENSOURCE We did not pick open source technologies because we can not rely on a
big stable company who would guarantee platform continuity and do not want to carry all the burden
of responsibility for development based on open source frameworks. There is simply no one to call,
once something goes wrong.
Why the winner is IBM Domino?
We were carefully looking for right platform and after long disputes and discussions we put our trust
and vote for IBM Domino. Here are the reasons why:
Proven track in rapid enterprise applications development platform
IBM Domino for 20 years helps large as well as small companies share information, create extensible
and scalable workflow applications, integrates with their current solutions. Domino in our point of view
is the most versatile, stable, secure, scalable and affordable platform for this type of application and
clients available in market now. In simplicity of application development, massive set of out-of-the-box
services (integrated mail server, web server, cuilt int famous Domino security, offline access, fulltext
search etc… ), time-to-deliver, stability and affordability it outperformed ASP.NET/MS SQL and
others as well.
Premium stability and reliability
IBM Domino server stability is amazing. Its uptime is counted in months and years, not in days and
weeks. Nothing is more important for our clients than reliability and stability of the solution. The
platform is running in much larger companies serving thousands of users, so to serve agency with
couple dozens of users is very easy for this software.
Relying on rock solid IBM backend
IBM Domino is almost 20 years backed by IBM as one of their core software products. This give us as
application developers huge advantage and makes us more relaxed and efficient than other
developers working with other technologies. IBM Domino is Rapid Application Development platform
which allows us focus on pure application features and business logic and do not worry about low
level services like security model, offline access, scalability, full text search, supporting multi-lingual
applications, ability to integrate to backend systems etc… Now after 12 years working with Domino as
a core platform we are still capable keep the solution backwards compatible, lean and simple, and to
do more with less developers and make solution affordable for our customers.
Rich features and ability to be an agency “workhorse”
Many people ask us why AD-IN-ONE is not browser based solution and whether we plan to make it
available in browser client.
The answer is:
We still do not believe that browser is the right tool for the solution of a ERP like solutions in scope of
AD-IN-ONE. But surely, we are carefully observing HTML5 and getting ready to go enter an “ERP in
browser” world, the browser allows us do what we are doing now in IBM Notes rich client, we sure will
replatform the solution.
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Internet browser is for sure great for browsing websites (that’s why it is called browser) and writing
posts on Facebook. That’s why people use browser for browsing websites and simple web apps (i.e.
inputting timesheet), or checking such limited application like Gmail. But once they need to work with
numbers, proposal, lists, get things done they still use full MS Excel, MS Word and MS Powerpoint
and other specialized softwares.
Browser still can hardly be used for authoring corporate documents. Google Docs is great for home
use or in particular creating and sharing documents, but it is not possible to connect it with other parts
of system yet. No workflows, no connection to job bag, no rich forms, no advanced security… etc.. so
far web browser still cannot easily replace enterprise applications.
IBM Notes client is an enterprise applications client… a workhorse tested by 20 year of use in
enterprises. Until web technologies will be delivering same rich features, we believe the right
approach is to give people most efficient workhorse for their routine daily job rather than a toy.
On top of that, we believe for certain jobs and positions it makes sense to have only light weight web
browser or mobile interface (like alerts on iPhones, timesheets or management dashboard reporting).
and . What we believe is important to have an open system which can be extended by special web
applications to share and collaborate within teams and with client.
The dream of using Internet browser for enterprise application gets serious defects once coming and
doing reality check with deep functionality, auditing security and work effectivity (working with large
lists, forms and advanced workflows). This is especially true if we are talking about super users like
account managers, traffic managers or financial officers who use the software for hundreds of
operations daily and cannot work in trial-error mode.
This is why we so far do not have ported the solution into the web browser. To write document in the
browser, or to edit spreadsheet in the browser is not that flexible as in rich client.
The answer when and whether the web client will be available is: We are waiting for HTML5 to be
wide spread standard and currently we are designing parts of AD-IN-ONE application which can be
run in internet browser without lose of functionality.
Runs on Macs and Windows
IBM Domino offers features and comfort of rich client on both key hardware platforms used in
agencies – Macs and PCs. It is not the case in agencies, but Notes client can run on Linux
workstations as well. You probably will stay with you Mac 
Server runs on multiple platforms
We will never convince our customers to be locked to single vendor and solely to Microsoft
technologies. We believe in open standards, our approach to give you a choice. IBM Domino will run
perfectly on Linux servers as well, so you can decide according to your priorities.
Single product serves all needs
IBM Domino is a product which integrates in a single product many various services necessary for
running great agency solution. In one single product for one licence fee you get full database platform,
email and calendaring services, web server, full text search service, offline access service, support for
over 60 mobile devices etc… and on top of that you get integration platform and rapid application
development platform which you can on top of AD-IN-ONE use for your custom websites
development for your clients. You are not dependent on one single vendor, but can use one of
hundreds of IBM Lotus Domino development partners in your country. This is why the software is
called Domino.
Fantastic security
IBM Domino offers unique security model which people expect once working with corporate data and
especially finance. IBM Domino security model offers far tighter and more precise security than a web
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browser security, which is usually based on login and password. With Domino every person has his
own “key” – a file which hu must posses to be even allowed to login. You do not have to worry, that
someone on the other side of the city gets the login and password and your data will be accessed
from any computer with internet browser.
Support of multiple languages
Thanks to abilities of Domino AD-IN-ONE can be easily translated, localized and deployed in multiple
regions with different taxations systems and local specific settings. IBM Domino is supported in 73
languages so we do not face issues with different character sets and behavior including languages
like Arabian, Chinese, Thai, Hebrew etc..AD-IN-ONE is currently translated and supported in 16
languages and to localize the system into new language is very easy and takes couple weeks.
iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Android and others
IBM Domino supports out of the box secure email and calendaring services on iPhone and iPad
devices as well as on Blackberry and Android devices and on more than 60 supported devices.
Open for customizations and development
IBM Domino is mainly rapid application development platform. Once you want to extend AD-IN-ONE
or build even your own application on the infrastructure you will be using at no additional cost, you
can choose from hundreds of IBM Domino deveopmetn business partners in your region.
The agency usually has limited experience and resources with deployment and maintenance of such
system.
Easy integration toolset
IBM Domino includes integrating tools directly in the software out of the box. To design web services
or connection to SQL databased doesnot need to purchase additional licences of an obsolete
integration middleware.
Scalability and versatility in deployment
Thanks to IBM Domino AD-IN-ONE will scale as will scale your needs. The software may run on your
premises, if you do not feel comfortable to have your financial data out of your company in a
datacenter or it can be hosted as software as service (SaaS / Cloud) in the datacenter of the provider
you prefer. Thanks to incredible versatility of IBM Domino we are able to deploy solution across
various countries, where the internet connection to European data centres is still a bottleneck
(especially UAE, China) and do not be doomed to a single server model, which in many cases is not
the win as promised during the presentations done by various competitors.
Working with data offline
IBM Domino offers unique feature which other vendor do not even think about. Working with the
complete application without connection to the internet. Selected users with laptops can have system
or its parts replicated on their laptops. Once the laptop gets connected to the internet the data is
synchronized with the server. You can imagine having all scanned documents, contracts, purchase
orders, layouts and the whole agency together with you wherever you are… without internet
connection. Once your company gets robbed, burned or kidnaped by unloyal employees, you will
keep all your data with you.
Low hardware requirements
IBM Domino works well with common office server and workstations hardware. No unrealistic
requirements on server hardware. Nobody will push you to purchase new machines to run IBM
Domino or AD-IN-ONE. In agencies, workstations are usually up to 4 year old. Such hardware is very
well scaled to run the system. Even if you have an older PC at the secretary desk, AD-IN-ONE will run
well there. As agencies usually have file servers, we recommend to run AD-IN-ONE on separate , but
affordable server, so the performance, reliability results in comfortable work with the system.
Deployment and restore in hours
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One of great things of IBM Domino is fast deployment. Domno server can be setup and configured in
few hours. Of course when done by people who know what they are doing. Compared to other
technologies this is a speed of light. This gives agency great security in case of accident, server
hardware crash, robbery etc.. To restore the system from scratch (with properly backed up files) is
matter of few hours as well.
Independence on vendor
Another good thing is that IBM has in every country dozens qualified Domino business partners, who
can do maintenance, application development and support in local language. This gives big freedom
and advantage to client, who is not bound to a single vendor. On top of that AD-IN-ONE is available
for local IBM Domino developers for development add-ons.
Easy backup
IBM Domino is is very well supported by backup software vendors with tools for incremental backup.
You can have your system backed up daily automatically and in case of disaster, the restore of ADIN-ONE application is matter of minutes.
Easy to virtualize
IBM Domino is a solution which well supports virtualization. On one server hardware you can easily
run multiple servers serving multiple agencies of the group.
Secure against viruses
Compared to viruses and attacks and patches for MS Outlook, IBM Domino and Notes client is not
subject of attacks and viruses. The situation is similar to Macs, simply viruses are written mostly to
attack Outlook and Windows, not Mac or IBM. Of course we recommend to employ antivirus software,
however, the IBM Domino administrators.have good sleep compared to MS Exchange administrators.
On the way to Cloud
For future development and first cloud releases in 2013 - 2015 we plan to evolve AD-IN-ONE into full
Cloud solution. Due to connection and support of IBM, revolutionary XPages technologies and their
massive investments into Cloud infrastructure (IBM SmartCloud datacenters around the globe) we
believe the choice of a IBM Domino pays off.
Conclusion
We believe that agencies need lightweight, but still rock solid, scalable and affordable platform for
their business.
We believe in doing things with right tools, and respect clients constraints like lack of human
resources, and funds limited to size of company.
We strongly believe IBM Domino is currently the only platform, which fulfills the all
requirements written above.
For more information please visit IBM product site or read IBM Domino product sheet
or feel free to call us at +420 222 551 500 or write an email to info@ad-in-one.com
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