First Domino application in production!

Well, now I know how it feels to become something you’ve never studied for (again): I’ve just had my first Domino application deployed on a production server inside IBM, to support the business of managing RFPs addressed to my department! What’s great is that I don’t have any background or experience as a programmer. I’ve never taken academic or professional classes.

The best part is that the stakeholders have been ecstatic about the polished look of the user interface (something I value a lot) as well as the simplicity of the application (another cue I’ve taken from using Mac software). My application essentially does one thing, and it does it well. It is carefully studied to provide very high return on investment for the little time needed to fill in the 8 or so information fields. It’s something that would have been great to get as part of our CRM deployment, but too small of a requirement to actually make it to the finish line.

Of course, now that it’s deployed, it will have to hold to the scrutiny of about a hundred end-users. I already have some modifications in mind to make it easier for people to see only the slice of information that pertains to them. I also plan to dig into Domino Agent programming, so I can have reports pushed to management automatically on a pre-determined schedule.

It’s taken me, what… 7 years to become a self-taught programmer and get my 1st application published. Let’s hope I can do the 2nd one in less time…