Blogger: Bill Pray
I watched with interest as the news stories rolled in on my feeds last Friday regarding IBM’s launch of hosted iNotes. At first, I was a bit surprised by how much attention the announcement was getting:
IBM To Launch Web-Based E-Mail Platform
IBM unveils LotusLive iNotes, a Google Apps competitor
Google welcomes IBM competition in the cloud
IBM Launches Secure, Reliable Cloud Email Service for $3 per User
IBM takes on Google Apps with LotusLive iNotes
to just list a few of the numerous article and blogs.
I was a little surprised because IBM has not made it a secret that the iNotes offering was coming. When LotusLive was launched in April, IBM prominently displayed that hosted iNotes was a future offering. So, why so much attention?
IBM did two important things right with the iNotes launch: First, IBM set a price point that really attracted attention - $36 a year per user. Google has made waves with its offering of $50 per year and IBM’s price point just put IBM in the lead in hosted e-mail conversations by undercutting Google by $14 a year. Second, IBM positioned the release of iNotes squarely against Google’s offering – garnering a wealth of attention by targeting a very successful media darling.
Up till now, IBM hasn’t received a lot of attention for their hosted collaboration offerings. The iNotes launch has put IBM on par with Google and Microsoft and positions IBM well to compete for enterprise attention in this market.
Next up, Cisco. Can Cisco attract the same kind of attention when Cisco launches its hosted e-mail and collaboration offerings based on PostPath, Jabber, and WebEx?
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