Domino v11 is not a brand new release. It was launched back in December 2019 (remember, pre-COVID?). But it is the latest and greatest version of the venerable HCL/Lotus Notes platform that’s been around for more than 30 years. If you’re still running an older version of Domino, then you should seriously consider upgrading to Domino v11. Some of our customers are maintaining an older Domino infrastructure primarily to support a key Domino application or two. If you’re concerned about the possibility of breaking something, or there are other reasons you have avoided upgrading before now, then you should know that there are some great resources available from HCL that will help with the process.
We’ve written before about the key new features in Domino v11. Briefly though, it comes down to these five things:
The introduction of Domino Volt - a new low-code development tool that allows business people to quickly put together and deploy simple web apps based on Domino.
HCL Nomad - a new lightweight mobile client that will run almost any Lotus Notes application on a mobile device with no changes.
Docker container support for faster deployment and easier upgrades.
Active Directory synchronization for easier integration in a Microsoft-centric environment.
A simplified, per-user per-month licensing model. No more PVUs!
Of course, you don’t have to use any of the new features to benefit from upgrading to Domino v11. Just running on the latest supported version of the platform has its own benefits (did someone say faster view searching?).
If you’re considering an upgrade to Domino v11, there are some great resources available to help you plan the project. Here are a few of our favorites:
What’s new in Domino v11 - here is the inside scoop from HCL on all the new features in v11.
Planning Your Upgrade to Notes and Domino 11 - Here are a couple of documents with a guide to planning the upgrade as well as a step-by-step guide that walks you through the upgrade process.
Upgrading to Domino 11 From Versions Earlier than 9.0.1 - HCL now supports direct upgrades from ANY prior version. This knowledge base article explains how to do that from versions prior to v9.0.1.
Best Practices for Upgrading to v11 Webinar - (Click on “Domino” for all Domino-related content, or “Project 11” for content related to upgrading to v11). HCL has created a mahoosive library of webinars and other technical content in a variety of languages under the heading of the “Digital Solutions Academy”. The English language version of the Best Practices webinar is here, but as of the time of writing, it’s available in at least 10 other languages or locales, at the link above. You will need to register with an email address to get access to this content.
Lotus Notes has been around a long time. One of the core principles of the product that has contributed greatly to its longevity, in our opinion, is the backwards compatibility for applications built on the platform. The idea is that you can upgrade from any older version of Domino to the latest version, and your customized business apps will continue to work unchanged. Mostly that’s true, although there are some things that it’s a good idea to check, depending on the age of the version of Domino you’re upgrading from. With that in mind, we built a set of Upgrade Filters that can be used to check for potential problems when upgrading Domino.
Typically though, the upgrade process goes smoothly enough, and there are plenty of resources available to help you plan. If you have any questions about the Upgrade Filters or any aspect of your HCL Domino application environment, click below to start a conversation. We love to chat!