On Lotus Software
Growing up, Lotus 1-2-3 was one of those programs I heard about quite a bit but never used. I had learned to cite it as an example of spreadsheet software in computer class but did not give much further thought to it. At least not until recently when I found some articles delving into the revolutionary and hugely popular computer programs of the late 20th century. While going through these, I recognised the name Lotus 1-2-3 and became curious as to what happened to the program as well as Lotus Software, the company behind it.
After doing a bit of research, it seems to me that the Lotus Software story can be summarised from the point of view of two of its main products, Lotus 1-2-3 and Lotus Notes. Lotus 1-2-3 pushed the boundaries of what a spreadsheet could be, introducing graph and charting functionalities with its program alongside an increased number of functions and commands. As a result, it came to dominate the spreadsheet market in the 80s. Its market dominance was however cut short when Microsoft Excel started to take over the market in the early 90s.
Similarly, Lotus Notes, a groupware application for enterprises to enable workers to collaborate, was an innovative platform once hailed as a program which Microsoft tried to kill but could not. It was so good that it is believed to be the main driving force in the initially hostile takeover launched by IBM to acquire Lotus Software in 1995. However, the late 90s and early 2000s saw enterprises turn away from Notes to Microsoft's Outlook and Exchange programs.
The two programs went down similar paths and for not dissimilar reasons either. The general theme was the underwhelming implementation of Lotus' winning ideas. Lotus 1-2-3 struggled to make the transition to GUI systems. As early as the late 80s, Microsoft Excel was already being ranked as a superior alternative despite its requirement of more powerful hardware to run. Some credit this failure to Lotus' disregard of the GUI market until it was too late, coupled with the company's bet on the failed OS/2 operating system by IBM. Notes, on the other hand, received lots of complaints about the platform regarding issues ranging from specific quirks of its user interface to general functionality of the program. And although Notes was a groupware application with numerous use cases, it was essentially perceived to be an email client. People used it for emails and calendaring. These were functionalities which Microsoft offered with its Outlook and Exchange programs, contributing to the exodus of users from Notes.
Lotus 1-2-3 was aptly named for its three main functionalities; handling spreadsheet calculations, function as a database and graphical charts. However it was primarily used and recognised as a spreadsheet package. Again, similar to Notes which despite being a groupware application was recognised primarily as an email client. The use of the products in this way implies a smaller value proposition than the suppliers may have intended. However, it seems that this was not met with appropriate reorganisation of strategy around the evident use cases. As a result, management may have believed they had a bigger competitive advantage than they actually did or may have just been negligent to the situation the business was in.