Lotus Notes & Domino Replacement
for businesses in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US.
Notes and Domino moved from IBM to HCL in 2019. Most organisations moved the mail to Microsoft 365 long ago and left the Notes applications behind, still running processes nobody has replaced.
- Independent No licence commission, no reseller agenda
- 18+ yrs Building business software
- Fixed Price scopes, no surprises
- AU NZ UK US Perth-based, working remotely
The mail moved. The applications did not.
Lotus Notes was never only email, which is why it is still here. Underneath the mail sat hundreds of small applications: approval workflows, registers, request forms, document libraries. When the mail moved to Microsoft 365 those applications were left running on a Domino server that now exists for that reason alone.
The applications are usually simple in intent and awkward in implementation, with logic split between forms, views and LotusScript agents that fire on a schedule nobody documented.
Your Lotus Notes project, end to end
Three stages. Scoped and fixed-price before anything starts, delivered by the founder, and your existing system stays running until cutover.
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Week 0
Read the system as it is
We go through the existing application and record what it actually does, including the parts nobody documented. You get a written inventory and a fixed price before any build starts.
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Weeks 1-N
Rebuild and run in parallel
The replacement runs beside the original until the numbers reconcile. The old system stays untouched and switched on the whole time.
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Cutover
Go live and hand over
Cutover on a date you choose, then thirty days of support. Source code, documentation and credentials are handed to you, in your name.
What the work actually is
Rebuild the applications, then switch the server off
We inventory what is actually in each .nsf, work out which applications are still used, and rebuild those. The ones nobody has opened in three years become an archive rather than a project.
What you have now
- .nsf databases
- LotusScript and formula-language agents
- Views, forms and approval workflows
- A Domino server kept alive for this alone
Rebuild the applications, then switch the server off
We inventory what is actually in each .nsf, work out which applications are still used, and rebuild those. The ones nobody has opened in three years become an archive rather than a project.
See how a project runsWhat you end up with
- The workflows rebuilt as web applications with real audit trails
- Documents and attachments extracted out of .nsf files
- The Domino server finally decommissioned
The 5 pieces of Lotus Notes work we are asked for
Most engagements are some combination of these, and most start with the first.
Inventory the .nsf databases
What exists, what is still opened and by whom. Most organisations are surprised by how many are dormant, which makes the project smaller than feared.
Extract documents and attachments
Content and attachments pulled out of the .nsf format into standard files and a real database.
Rebuild the live workflows
Approvals, registers and request forms rebuilt as web applications, with proper audit trails instead of agent logs.
Archive the rest
Dormant databases become a searchable archive rather than a rebuild, which is usually most of them.
Decommission Domino
Once nothing depends on it, the server that exists only to host these applications can go.
Where you are now
It works, and nobody will touch it
- A Domino server maintained solely to run a handful of applications
- LotusScript agents firing on schedules nobody documented
- Attachments locked inside .nsf files
- Notes client still installed on machines only for this
After
Supported, documented and yours
- Workflows running as web applications with real audit trails
- Documents in normal storage that search and backup can reach
- One less server and one less client to maintain
- Dormant content archived and searchable rather than rebuilt
Scoped and quoted before you commit. You own the code, the documentation and the credentials at the end of it.
Get a fixed-price scopeLotus Notes questions
How many of our Notes applications actually need rebuilding?
Usually far fewer than the count suggests. The inventory is the first piece of work, and it typically shows that a large share have not been opened in years. Those become an archive, which costs a fraction of a rebuild.
Can attachments be extracted from .nsf files?
Yes, with the document metadata and the links preserved. Attachments are the part most likely to be forgotten in a hurried migration, and they are often the part with the compliance obligation attached.
Could we move the workflows into Microsoft 365 instead?
Sometimes, and where a workflow genuinely fits Power Automate or SharePoint we will say so rather than build something custom. The ones that do not fit are usually the ones with real business logic in them.
We are a government body with records obligations. Does that change things?
It changes the archive requirement more than the rebuild. Records that must be retained need to remain readable and searchable after Domino goes, and that gets scoped explicitly rather than assumed.
Do we need Notes licences during the project?
Only until the last live application is cut over. Sequencing the rebuild so the licence renewal date is the deadline is a reasonable way to run it.
Sending your details…
You can stay on this page while we send it.
Tell us what you are running
What the system does, roughly how old it is, and what is forcing the question. We will come back with a straight answer and a fixed-price scope, even if the answer is to leave it alone.
Prefer a quick chat? Call 0425 531 127. We answer the phone in Perth.
