CNET article

I guess that the rumors we started about IBM buying Groove were a bit off target.

And IMHO, it's the fact that Ray will be CTO that is the real news in this story. Microsoft will spin it for all it's worth, and they know how to make it be worth an awful lot. E.g., "the creator of Notes is now the visionary behind Microsoft's messaging and collaboration strategy," "Ray's break with IBM is complete and irrevocable". "Bill and Ray, working together..."

1. Ben Rose03/10/2005 10:31:49 AM
Homepage: http://blog.jaffacake.net

Surely any credit they give to Notes will be shooting exchange and all that other stuff they sell in the foot...

2. George Chiesa03/10/2005 12:06:12 PM
Homepage: http://dotNSF.com

Maybe, just maybe, IBM will now understand the true cost of "domino does not scale" WAS-selling-FUD... Just maybe....

3. Ben Langhinrichs03/10/2005 12:23:37 PM
Homepage: http://www.GeniiSoft.com/showcase.nsf/GeniiBlog

And just yesterday they bought more Midas licenses. Curiouser and curiouser.

4. kathleen lynch03/10/2005 12:32:27 PM

An abolutely stunning move. A brilliant ploy on Microsoft's part.

5. Wild Bill03/10/2005 12:39:03 PM
Homepage: http://www.billbuchan.com

Especially brilliant as it doesnt rely on Longhorn...

---* Bill

6. Curt Stone03/10/2005 06:30:55 PM
Homepage: http://d.dominodeveloper.net/curtstone/home.nsf

I agree with Richard. Ray's vision is the prize.
Or maybe Ray is a double agent sent from IBM. I saw him meeting with a bunch of Lotus guys at Lotusphere.

7. Leonardo Burci03/11/2005 07:43:08 AM

You need no doble agents and the like to be successful.
Just make a good product better and better and keep your customers satisfied.

This move by Microsoft could augment the effort on IBM's side to do more for Domino than planned. And that would be great!

8. Leonardo Burci03/11/2005 08:59:42 AM

Just found this interesting comment:

http://gcc.upb.de/k-pool/MSbuysGroove
(via www.vowe.net)

9. Richard Schwartz03/11/2005 09:35:20 AM
Homepage: http://smokey.rhs.com/web/blog/PowerOfTheSchwartz.nsf

@Leonardo: Yes, I just saw that (via Vowe). Very insightful. But then again, I would have expected that from Dr. Nastansky

-rich

10. Bruce Elgort03/11/2005 05:41:54 PM
Homepage: http://www.bruceelgort.com

Who said that Ray is still such a visionary? I think he lost hist magic long ago.

11. Ben Langhinrichs03/13/2005 12:57:39 AM
Homepage: http://www.GeniiSoft.com/showcase.nsf/GeniiBlog

Well, Bruce, this is his big chance to either prove he still has it, or prove he does not.

12. Richard Schwartz03/14/2005 11:58:31 AM
Homepage: http://smokey.rhs.com/web/blog/PowerOfTheSchwartz.nsf

@Ben: I agree. GIve it about 18 to 24 months, and then we'll have a good reading on at least one of two things: Ray's vision and/or his ability to steer Microsoft toward his vision.

-rich