wissel.net

Don't try this at home!

Stephan H Wissel — Tue, 21 May 2013 18:32:19 +0000

Domino has a refined security system, so the java.policy file can be a real PITA. So you would be tempted to write a few lines of LotusScript and run it on a scheduled agent, so on the next server restart that pain goes away. Of course you wouldn't write code like below which lacks any error handling.You also would not hide this code from your admin people who would want an impact study and your firstborn for any change they make. So instead of doing all this you wait until there is a proper configuration setting for this.

Option Public
Option Declare

Sub Initialize
Dim s As New NotesSession
Dim inikey As String
Dim secFileName As String
Dim stream As NotesStream
Dim policy As String

Dim beginString As String
Dim endString As String
Dim permission As String

Dim beginPos As Integer
Dim endPos As Integer

inikey = "NotesProgram"
beginString = "grant {"
endString = "}"
secFileName = s.Getenvironmentstring(iniKey, true)
secFileName = secFileName + "jvm/lib/security/java.policy"
permission = "permission java.security.AllPermission;"
Set stream = s.Createstream()
Call stream.Open(secFileName)

policy = stream.Readtext()

beginPos = InStr(policy,beginString)
If beginPos < 1 Then
'We don't have any so we abort
Exit sub
End If

Dim firstCut As String
firstCut = Mid$(policy,beginPos)
endPos = InStr(firstCut,endString)

If endPos < 1 Then
'The file is borked
Exit Sub
End If

Dim allGrant As String
allGrant = Mid$(firstCut,1,endPos)

'Now the check
If InStr(allGrant,permission) < 1 Then
'We need to update the file
Call stream.Truncate()
Call stream.Writetext(Mid$(policy,1,beginPos+7), EOL_NONE)
Call stream.Writetext(permission, EOL_PLATFORM)
Call stream.Writetext(Mid$(policy,beginPos+7), EOL_NONE)
End If

Call stream.Close()
End Sub

As usual YMMV

Enterprise 2.0 and weight loss - siblings separated at birth?

Stephan H Wissel — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:35:04 +0000

This blog entry is inspired and largely translated from this German article authored by enterprise consultant Andreas Schulze-Kopp. Having gone through some personal transformation (final results in November) myself, I found Andreas' comparison of Enterprise 2.0 initiatives and weight loss programs intriguing.
The tasks are comparable: alter habits, break through the mould of old behavioural pattern (a.k.a processes in business lingo) show enough determination and will power to see it through. While Andreas provides an "Augenweide" I'll offer (only) a mindmap. (Buzan's own iMindMap ditched their Linux development, so I'm switching to XMind).

Change of habits

Without rethinking habits and processes neither a social business project nor the latest, greatest diet have any chance for sustainable success. Change is inevitable and needs to be embraced openly. Don't commit the folly presuming to get it right the first time, so even the change process needs adjustment, change changes. As with the diet: Start moving!. Without movement both your weight loss and your social business initiative are dead in the water.

Process cleanup

Once you got rid of old habits, your procedures and processed need to be adjusted or terminated. There is no more space for the sugar bomb in the freezer or the Monday morning spreadshit in the inbox. You drink green tea and the latest figures are either in the Social CRM or in your openly shared files.

Will power

The key ingredient! Without the unwavering will to see it through both can't be sustained. Unavoidable setbacks and negative experiences can be offset by determination. The determination to continue even if initially you lost a few pounds only, despite feeling hungry and moving a lot. The determination to see the project through even when the initial project acceptance isn't stellar and contributions stay sparse.

Conviction

A life style change (induced by a diet) and an enterprise 2.0 project must be backed by the conviction to do the right thing. If I'm not convinced my willpower will wafer and I soon find myself crafting excuses to exit. Senior management must be a role model and participate authentic in the enterprise 2.0. Employees have a fine BS radar and "lip-service only" participation of senior management will result in lip-service only imitation and ultimately failure.
Will power is fuelled by conviction and conviction needs to be fuelled by vision. Where do I want to be: "Envision you look into the mirror and you love what you see". Or to use Antoine's words: "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea".

Patience and endurance

Rome wasn't built in a day, real change in shape and organisation take time. In a time where the cadence of most organisations is determined by their quarterly reports, patience is a rather rare commodity. The temptation is great to increase the pressure to see results now, only to face a backslash shortly thereafter. Behaviour and understanding are no simple switches that can be flipped, their fundamental changes need to be practised and settle in

The Jo-Jo effect

Easy goes, easy comes (daily mourning of a "diet pro"). Changing your shape, personally and in the enterprise requires permanent changes in behaviour and attitude. A short term, high effort, fast paced program can't sustain (even if lots of organisations think so), once the effort fizzles out (typically replaced by another corporate wide initiative) old habits resurface, old processes get reinstated and goals get abandoned. The organisation bounces back to old habits. Changing habits takes time, allocating to little of it dooms any project.

The support group

Working out, moving, doing things different makes more fun in the right company. Members in a group motivate, compete and catch each other. The same is true for the enterprise 2.0 projects. Group dynamics will require skilled leaders. This is where your social champions become crystallisation points for the social transformation.

Counting vs. quality

Remember (or ask one who remembers) how counting calories in the last diet sucked big time. It feels like being restricted. A good diet rather improves on the quality and variation of food, so portions can shrink. The same applies to the enterprise 2.0 space. If all that is cared for are numbers, employees feel additional pressures and will time and again prove their creativity in gaming the metric - not the result you are working for. Focus on quality!

The tools

There is a whole industry catering to weight loss candidates - as there is for enterprise 2.0. If running is your weapon of choice, you should have good shoes. Measuring vital signs makes sense too, you don't want to waste effort (too low) or kill yourself (too high). The same applies in the organisation. Tools on their own have no effect (think sport shoes in the closet), but with the other items in this little list they can make success easier. Pick them well and in line with your goals (having "share" in the name doesn't make it social by default).

This list by far isn't complete and you are welcome to add your own thoughts

Modernizing Notes applications - lessons from the trenches

Stephan H Wissel — Thu, 09 May 2013 08:47:26 +0000

Not only since mobile first became fashionable corporations are trying to ditch the ~~Lotus~~ IBM Notes client - for various reasons.
These efforts were branded "modernization", "web enablement", "mobile enablement" or if a competitor had a word "migration". Initially there was hope that this would be a short, painless and automated process (the upgrades, not the migrations that is). But reality taught a few facts that you need to consider:

A Rich Client is based on RichText, a browser client on HTML. There is no 1:1 mapping (otherwise one format would be superfluous), only some approximation (just ask Ben about it). Much more: there is no 1:1 mapping of the event models and APIs. So any automation would lead to incredible hacks
The Notes client's and Domino server's LotusScript runtimes are, while dated, incredibly robust and forgiving. The amount of OMG code I've seen in Notes applications (including my own ) tops any other platform.
Still that code gets the job done and out of the way. However that doesn't translate into another language in an automated fashion, but rather demands the repayment of quite some technical debt
Code that gets a client with one user huffing and puffing can't simply be expected to run for hundreds or thousands of users on a single server
Users expect web (and mobile) applications to be fresh and modern. If Jack Sparrow couldn't find the fountain of youth, how can an automated tool do that?
This is a clear conflict of interest between the users ("shall be modern and fresh") and the ones paying for it ("make it work in a browser, fast & cheap") - a classic for Why enterprise software sucks
John D. Head clearly outlines expectations and possibilities for modern user interfaces. Teamstudio provides a nice set of modern mobile controls (that even work offline for a fee)
The amount of Notes applications mostly get underestimated greatly. Use a scientific method to create evidence

So damn if you don't, damn if you do? Not quite. In an approach Peter calls Asymmetric Modernization you step back from the tree to see the forest. Instead of looking the usual Notes way "application-by-application", see the sum of the applications and ~~wipe them out, all of them~~ modernize them all in one go (it is called economy of scale).
Nathan and Peter share a video, the modernization of the nifty-fifty, a recent case study and the service offering. Go check them out.
The biggest issue I see with this approach is the usual cautious stand in IT today:"let us do one (insignificant) application first and see how it goes. Then we linearly extrapolate and get scared" That is the total opposite of Asymmetric Modernization, so it will require clever persuasion to get a project approved.
As usual YMMV

CRM > Sales Tracking

Stephan H Wissel — Sun, 05 May 2013 13:13:00 +0000

IBM is ditching Siebel CRM in favour of SugarCRM. Cloud based CRM was made popular by SalesForce while Zoho wants a share of the pie too.
All to often CRM offers or is used as sales force automation tool, which it is not (only). But what makes a good CRM? It needs to provide access to anything that relates to a customer. Doh - that's what the name claims.

In larger organisations CRM typically is understood very narrowly as sales tracking tool, the broader definition as outlined above gets covered by a combination of Portal on the front (a.k.a glass level) and master data management (MDM). Smaller organisations don't have that luxury. There an integrated system makes most sense.
Now guess on what platform those have been built. A little selection (in no specific order and not complete):

Haus Weilgut (They sold me my first Notes 2 license and they are still around)
Gedys Intraware
GBS CRM
IT Stream
Basic UK
Tracker Suite
Salesplace (Part of GBS)
360 Systems
Ardexus

As usual YMMV

Dear SingTel, please fix your routing performance!

Stephan H Wissel — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 02:01:53 +0000

Slashdot asked for the latency to their site, so I ran a few tests with pretty consistent results in the 250ms range. Slashdot labels that as "still stuck on dialup or in space". Their expectations for overseas users was 80 to 150ms. Puzzled by the result (local websites typically respond in the sub 2ms range), I used traceroute to get to the bottom of this. Here are the results:

Hop	IP	DNS Name	Packet 1	Packet 2	Packet 3	AVG	Delta
1	192.168.1.1	router	0.3730	0.5390	0.3200	0.4107
2	202.166.123.170	(202.166.123.170)	5.9160	4.8020	4.7630	5.1603
3	202.166.123.169	(202.166.123.169)	2.7000	2.6150	2.8210	2.7120	-47.45%
4	202.166.121.101	(202.166.121.101)	3.7700	2.8390	2.5490	3.0527	12.56%
5	202.166.120.186	(ae6-0.singha.singnet.com.sg)	2.8160	7.1180	3.6210	4.5183	48.01%
6	202.166.126.41	(ae5-0.beck.singnet.com.sg)	29.7140	3.1530	2.9850	11.9507	164.49%
7	203.208.190.130	(203.208.190.130)	6.1800	3.6980	3.0630	4.3137	-63.90%
8	203.208.182.153	(ge-4-0-6-0.sngc3-cr2.ix.singtel.com)	3.0040
	203.208.151.177	(ge-0-1-7-0.sngtp-dr1.ix.singtel.com)		3.9300	2.9730	3.3023	-23.44%
9	203.208.171.186	(203.208.171.186)	180.7350
	203.208.153.162	(203.208.153.162)		193.0680	192.9220	188.9083	5620.45%
10	203.208.171.154	(203.208.171.154)	185.7070
	203.208.171.158	(203.208.171.158)		189.3080	189.1780	188.0643	-0.45%
11	67.17.192.141	(67.17.192.141)	185.5320	181.1660	181.5870	182.7617	-2.82%
12	64.208.27.50	(savvis-1.ar4.SJC2.gblx.net)	192.5370	185.9260	185.3730	187.9453	2.84%
13	206.28.98.117	(cr2-te-0-5-0-1.sfo.savvis.net)	185.3240	201.3570	202.9370	196.5393	4.57%
14	204.70.196.246	(cr2-tengig-0-7-0-0.chicago.savvis.net)	239.1180	234.3400	234.1810	235.8797	20.02%
15	204.70.195.122	(hr2-tengigabitethernet-12-1.elkgrovech3.savvis.net)	228.7670	240.4970	240.9600	236.7413	0.37%
16	64.37.207.158	(das5-v3032.ch3.savvis.net)	240.7050	244.1670	243.6270	242.8330	2.57%
17	64.27.160.194	(64.27.160.194)	240.7910	264.4990	253.7380	253.0093	4.19%
18	216.34.181.45	(slashdot.org)	235.7960	242.7860	242.3070	240.2963	-5.02%

Checking for the hosts that created that 5000% jump in latency it turns out, they are SingTel's:

stw@box:~$ whois 203.208.171.186
% [whois.apnic.net node-3]
% Whois data copyright terms    http://www.apnic.net/db/dbcopyright.html

inetnum:        203.208.171.128 - 203.208.171.191
netname:        SINGTEL-IX-AP
descr:          Singapore Telecommunications Pte Ltd
descr:          31C Exeter Road, Comcenter III
descr:          Unit #06-06
descr:          Singapore 239734
country:        SG
admin-c:        SAK3-AP
tech-c:         SAK3-AP
status:         ASSIGNED NON-PORTABLE
notify:         shanali@singtel.com
mnt-by:         MAINT-SINGTEL-IX
changed:        shanali@singtel.com 20070615
source:         APNIC

stw@box:~$ whois 203.208.153.162
% [whois.apnic.net node-5]
% Whois data copyright terms    http://www.apnic.net/db/dbcopyright.html

inetnum:        203.208.153.128 - 203.208.153.191
netname:        SINGTEL-IX-AP
descr:          Singapore Telecommunications Pte Ltd
descr:          31C Exeter Road, Comcenter III
descr:          Unit #06-06
descr:          Singapore 239734
country:        SG
admin-c:        SAK3-AP
tech-c:         SAK3-AP
status:         ASSIGNED NON-PORTABLE
notify:         shanali@singtel.com
mnt-by:         MAINT-SINGTEL-IX
changed:        shanali@singtel.com 20070615
source:         APNIC

Looks very much like an underperforming switch/router/filter. SingTel, please fix that!

I want one

Stephan H Wissel — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 07:30:17 +0000

MAMIL*

Stephan H Wissel — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 10:59:41 +0000

Cycling in Singapore can be fun once you:

Find the right group
Do it at night
Are not afraid to cycle along an unlit Cemetery or ghosts

* Middle Aged Man In Lycra

A more actionable Connections UI

Stephan H Wissel — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 08:11:56 +0000

IBM Connections is a two headed beast: on one hand it is a set of rich APIs offering different services (Status, Blogs, Wiki, Text, Activities etc) on the other it provides a set of UIs on top of this APIs. Yes, not one, but a set: Browser, Android, iShiny™ and IBM Notes. I'm a big fan of the APIs. After all they stand for IBM's commitment to open standards and are build with XML, REST, ATOM and ActivityStreams compliant to the OpenSocial specifications.
I'm not so sure about the UIs, especially the browser UI. While it is fiercely backward compatible in its browser support, it doesn't take advantage of modern browser capabilities (a all to common Catch 22: the general expectation is software to be bleeding edge but to work on all runtimes. Only slowly the idea takes hold "work on all runtimes" doesn't necessarily mean "is the same" and software embraces graceful degradation instead of the least common denominator. We might see that in Connections some time in the future too.
Anyway, the API concept allows you to create your own UI without running foul of breaking the existing application. So I doodled around with my favourite mockup tool how I would enhance the existing UI:

Following the concept of progressive disclosure the entry box in the status update could be used to create any type of entry. It is quite paradoxical, that now I need to decide where (Status, Blog, Wiki, Activity etc.) to say something before I can say it. The what and where need to be more independent. By providing a single entry box this is absolutely possible.

Planning applications (XPages MindMap)

Stephan H Wissel — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 03:44:04 +0000

In a recent XPages workshop in Kuala Lumpur, the class brainstormed on the planning process for an XPages application. This is what we came up with. For every item on the list one could elaborate quite a bit, but putting that on the map would make it rather messy.

Enjoy

Is SharePoint a Failed Vision for Collaboration?

Stephan H Wissel — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 07:48:57 +0000

Rich Blank (of Jive software) makes a case on CMSWire to consider SharePoint a failure for collaboration. Looking closely it isn't SharePoint to fault.
SharePoint with its place concept and flat views is a 1:1 conceptual copy of Lotus Notes implemented with a (then) current Microsoft technology stack. Thus it does have the potential for successful collaboration, as the (then) success of Lotus Notes clearly showed.
With the right effort of adoption any collaborative technology can be successful, be it shared folders (like Dropbox), Lotus Notes, SharePoint, LinkedIn, Jammer or Connections. It is an too common pattern: failure of collaboration gets attributed to the platform, to avoid the necessity to wake up to the fact that the core reason of failure is lack of skills, vision, execution and adoption.
Of course, and I'm certainly biased here, a more people than place/document centric approach makes adoption and collaboration more efficient, effective and pleasant (read: usable), so SharePoint would need to fuse with Yammer and Skype to get there. This still doesn't negate the need to drive adoption.
The collaboration space has still way to go. With all the tools around we celebrate information scatter for the sake of "social collaboration". A key success factor for eMail was "everything in one place (the inbox) at my disposal". The modern collaborative tools (I'm not fond of the term social, since in my part of the world it still has a different meaning) are wanting in place and control. Activity streams (as the transport protocol) seem most promising, since they are open, don't reinvent the wheels (after all they are HTTP and ATOM) and can be contributed/digested in any programming language.
Nevertheless the UIs offered are to consumption and not enough action oriented. Embedded experiences are a step to remedy that, but I still can't act on the stream, only on some of the information that flows by. So there's way to go to make this collaboration effective, efficient and pleasant. Be it Jammer, SharePoint, IBM Notes or IBM Connections (or any of the nice players).