Last Tuesday I received a forwarded email, alerting me that IBM has posted an official statement wrt Microsoft’s latest connector & their supported policy.  Initially the talk centered on “what this means, and what we should do…”

 

After thinking about it I concluded the following few things:

 

  1. This is likely good news for Microsoft\customers as this signifies the connector is clearly being deployed, seen as a necessary\valuable coexistence tool (also based on # of downloads & support calls which IBM is seeing too) and known customers we know are implementing.  Overall, we are happy to get any\all product feedback, we continue to learn, develop and improve the tool(s) and in this for the long-term.
  2. The latest June 7th v1.1 release of the connector addresses many of the issues customers initially reported with the v1.0 December release.  You should download & install this latest version from here: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/move
  3. Lou & Amy on my team have just finished an updated “Planning & Troubleshooter” guide (scheduled to release July 5th) that will help with many of the general setup & deployment issues customers are experiencing today.  Microsoft sees the connector as a key coexistence tool & will continue to improve not only the existing Exchange 2003 version but also coming soon: a *new* Exchange 2007 version releasing with Exchange 2007 – it is super cool!!!
  4. Though IBM is publicly saying they will not support you beyond basic troubleshooting, I want to be clear: Microsoft will support you 100% in the installation & configuration of the connector.
  5. IBMs decision to pull support for their customers is unfortunate but we are more than happy to support them.

If you need help with the connector:

 

Get in contact with one of my worldwide team of senior Program Managers who know & work on our tools inside & out.  For those Enterprise Customers who need direct engagement or assistance you should escalate to your TAMs or CATM for help.

 

Here is IBMs posting:

http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=463&context=SSKTMJ&dc=DB520&uid=swg21097043&loc=en_US&cs=UTF-8&lang=en&rss=ct463lotus

 

-todd

 

p.s. did anyone else notice how the original IBM press release changed?  On Tuesday morning is said one thing, on Tuesday afternoon it said something much different…  Seems reminiscent of when we had a bad link to the old Analyzer & IBM publicly called us on it… huh, interesting?