City IT to say bye bye Lotus, hello Microsoft

Cornwall CFO Tracey Bailey and Information Technology and Communications supervisor Elsie Bissonnette present the department budget to the committee Monday, Feb. 5, 2018. The city is planning to do away with Lotus Notes and move to Microsoft in order to allow for better document handling and sharing within the corporation. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston)

CORNWALL – The city is budgeting nearly a half million dollars this year to do away with its Lotus Notes computer infrastructure within the corporation and move to Microsoft.

During a budget committee presentation Monday, Information Technology and Communications (ITT) supervisor Elsie Bissonnette told the budget committee the upgrade will allow employees to collaborate on documents.

Right now, the city has a manual system where files are on shared hard drives and there can be multiple copies of documents floating about the halls of city hall. One of the departments that handles the most documents at the city is social services, the committee heard.

The corporate email replacement, which will cost $73,000, will also incorporate a SharePoint implementation plan at $355,000.

Microsoft SharePoint is the collaborative program that is integrated with Microsoft Office 365, which the city is already licenced to use.

“Hallelujah!” Coun. Bernadette Clement remarked on word the city would be ditching Lotus.