When I started my professional career, Domino was not a technology I had heard about
during my college years.
Like many fresh graduates, I was familiar with technologies such as Java, C, C++, PHP,
HTML and JavaScript. These were some of the technologies many students were exploring
when preparing to enter the IT industry. I also had an expectation that my career would
begin with one of these technologies.
Instead, during my first job, I was told that I would be joining the Domino development
team. To be honest, I was not particularly excited at first.
I had barely heard of Domino during college and had little idea about what Domino
development involved. I started asking some of my seniors about it, but surprisingly, even
some of them were not very familiar with the technology.
However, I had one clear objective: I wanted to begin my career, learn and grow.
So, I joined the Domino team.
Looking back today, that decision turned out to be one of the most important turning points
in my professional life.
The Beginning: Everything Was New
When I started working with Domino, almost everything felt unfamiliar.
The terminology, development approach, application architecture, tools and even the way
applications were designed were diƯerent from what I had learned during my studies. In the
beginning, there was so much new information that it often felt like everything was simply
bouncing around in my head.
I started by observing the people around me. I learned from my seniors, followed their
development practices, understood the applications they were supporting and gradually
began exploring the technology myself.
As I gained more experience and started looking at the applications within the organization,
I realized something important:
Domino was not just another technology. It was a significant enterprise platform
supporting many critical business processes.
Many business applications had been built using Lotus Notes and Domino, taking
advantage of its document oriented architecture, workflow capabilities, security model,
database functionality, replication and messaging features.
That realization gave me confidence.
What had initially felt like an unexpected career path was becoming an opportunity to learn
something valuable.
And that unexpected beginning eventually became a 12 year journey of learning, problem
solving, modernization and continuous growth.
Looking back, here are some of the lessons this journey has taught me.
1. What Was Domino Development Like When I Started?
When I started, Domino development was primarily focused on LotusScript, Formula
Language, Forms, Views, Agents and Notes databases.
Many business applications were developed almost entirely within the Domino ecosystem.
Developers often worked across multiple areas – from application logic and database
design to user interfaces, workflows, security and backend processing.
My initial focus was on learning the fundamentals:
• Understanding Domino architecture
• Writing LotusScript
• Creating Forms and Views
• Working with Documents
• Developing Agents
• Understanding security and access control
• Troubleshooting application issues
But over time, I learned something much more important.
Domino development is not simply about writing code. It is about understanding the
business process behind the application.
A technically correct solution is not necessarily the right solution if it does not address the
actual business requirement.
That understanding gradually changed the way I approached development.
2. What Has Changed Most in the Last 12 Years?
One of the biggest changes I have seen is the transition from relatively standalone Domino
applications toward integrated enterprise ecosystems.
Earlier, much of the business logic and processing existed within Domino.
Today, Domino applications often need to communicate with many other technologies and
platforms, including:
• REST APIs
• JSON
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 / AX
• Power BI
• SFTP
• SharePoint
• External databases
• Modern web applications
• Other enterprise systems
As a result, working with Domino today is not only about understanding the Domino
platform itself.
It also requires knowledge of integration, APIs, performance, security, automation, data
quality, monitoring and system reliability.
The role of a developer has evolved as well. It is no longer enough to understand what
happens inside one application. We also need to understand how that application fits
into the wider enterprise landscape.
3. What Has Surprisingly Remained the Same?
One of the most interesting lessons I have learned is that technology changes, but
business needs remain remarkably consistent.
Users still want applications that are:
• Reliable
• Fast
• Secure
• Stable
• Easy to use
• Available when they need them
The technology surrounding an application may change, but the fundamental objective
remains the same:
Solve a business problem eƯectively and reliably.
At the same time, many Domino fundamentals continue to be relevant in mature enterprise
applications. Documents, views, forms, agents, security, replication and backend
processing still play an important role in many existing systems.
That is one of the things I appreciate most about working with a mature technology: it gives
you an opportunity to understand not just how systems are built, but why they continue to
deliver value.
4. What Is the Biggest Challenge When Working on a Mature Domino Application?
For me, the biggest challenge is often not writing the code.
It is understanding the existing business logic, dependencies and history behind the
application.
A mature enterprise application can contain years of accumulated knowledge and
functionality, including:
• Legacy agents
• Complex views
• Scheduled processes
• Replication
• Backend scripts
• External integrations
• Hidden dependencies
• Business rules developed over many years
A change that looks simple from a technical perspective can sometimes have an
unexpected impact somewhere else.
This has taught me to look beyond the immediate requirement.
Instead of simply asking: “How can I change this?”
I have learned to ask: “Why was this designed this way and what else depends on it?”
That mindset has become one of the most valuable lessons of my career.
5. What Have Production Issues and DiƯicult Changes Taught Me?
Some of my most valuable learning has come from situations where things did not go
according to plan.
One of the biggest lessons I have learned is: Never assume that a small change is a small
change in a mature enterprise application.
Working with production systems has taught me the importance of:
• Proper impact analysis
• Thorough testing
• Root-cause analysis
• Monitoring
• Rollback planning
• Clear communication
• Documentation
• Preventive actions
When something goes wrong in production, resolving the immediate issue is only the first
step. The more important questions are:
Why did it happen?
What did we miss?
What can we change so that it does not happen again?
Over the years, diƯicult production incidents have often taught me more than
straightforward development tasks.
They have helped me become more careful, more analytical and more conscious of the
impact that even a small technical decision can have on a business process.
6. What Skills Have Helped Me Beyond Domino?
One of the biggest benefits of spending many years in enterprise software is realizing that
your career cannot depend on a single technology.
Technology knowledge is important, but problem solving, debugging, communication,
business understanding, ownership and continuous learning are equally important.
Alongside Domino, I have explored technologies and concepts such as:
• SQL
• REST APIs
• JSON
• Power BI
• Python
• Java
• Modern web technologies
• Enterprise integrations
• Data and analytics
Learning these technologies has helped me understand how diƯerent systems
communicate and more importantly, how individual applications fit into a much larger
technology landscape.
I have also learned that as we gain experience, communication becomes just as
important as technical expertise.
A senior developer needs to communicate eƯectively with users, QA teams, infrastructure
teams, support teams, business stakeholders and fellow developers.
Sometimes, solving a technical problem is only half the job. Explaining the problem clearly,
aligning with the right people, and taking ownership of the solution are equally important.
7. How Do I See Domino Working Alongside Modern Technologies?
I do not necessarily see Domino and modern technologies as competitors.
I see them as technologies that can work together as part of a larger enterprise
ecosystem.
A mature Domino application can continue to provide stability and established business
functionality, while modern technologies can be introduced for APIs, analytics,
automation, user interfaces and integrations.
For example: Domino → REST API → Modern Application / D365 / Power BI
This type of architecture provides organizations with the opportunity to modernize
gradually rather than replace a mature business application overnight.
In many enterprise environments, modernization is not about completely replacing
everything that already exists.
It is about finding the right balance between stability, business continuity, innovation
and technology modernization.
Having worked with mature Domino applications for many years, I have come to appreciate
that modernization is often a journey rather than a single event.
8. What Advice Would I Give Someone Starting Their Career Today?
My biggest advice would be: Do not limit yourself to one technology.
If you start your career with Domino, learn Domino deeply. Understand its architecture, its
strengths, its limitations and the business problems it solves.
But do not stop there.
Build knowledge in areas such as:
• SQL and databases
• REST APIs
• Web technologies
• Cloud concepts
• Python or Java
• Data analytics
• AI and automation
• System integration
More importantly, learn to understand the business problem before jumping into
coding.
Technology will continue to evolve. The technologies we use today may be very diƯerent
from the technologies we use ten years from now.
But skills such as problem solving, logical thinking, communication, ownership,
adaptability and continuous learning will remain valuable regardless of the technology.
My 12 Year Takeaway
When I look back at the beginning of my career, I never expected that joining a Domino
team would become such an important part of my professional journey.
I started as a developer primarily focused on learning the technology, writing code and
maintaining applications.
Over the years, my perspective has gradually changed.
Today, I look at the complete picture:
Business Requirements → Application Architecture → Code → Integrations → Data →
Performance → Testing → Production Stability → User Experience → Team Collaboration
That, for me, is the biggest transformation these 12 years have brought.
The technology changed.
The systems evolved.
The business requirements changed.
But the biggest transformation happened in the way I think about technology and solve
problems.
When I joined the Domino team, it was a technology I had barely heard of during college. I
certainly did not imagine that it would become such an important part of my professional
life.
What started as an unexpected career direction became a 12 year journey that taught me
much more than Domino.
It taught me how to learn a technology from the ground up, how to understand the business
behind the code, how to deal with complexity, how to learn from production challenges,
how to work with diƯerent technologies and how important continuous learning is in an
ever-changing technology landscape.
And perhaps the biggest lesson of all is this:
Sometimes, the career opportunities we do not initially choose can become the
journeys that shape us the most.
Kirti Bansal
Sr. Developer