IBM announced this week that it is retiring its Lotus brand.  OK, your organization may not be affected by the demise of this famous marque.  Your leadership may not be suddenly considering the complicated, costly options for its replacement.  In fact, everyone has seen this coming for years. But the discontinuation of a brand, once so dominant, should serve to remind us that in the world of software, nothing is forever.

You may not be losing any sleep.  But, if IBM's flagship products are vulnerable to the vagaries of a constantly changing, constantly challenging environment, what about the software products you're running on now?  How confident are you that they'll be around tomorrow?

Its true that IBM's software isn't all of a sudden becoming obsolete.  On the contrary, Notes/Domino 9 Social Version, which they are releasing in Beta, will likely be very robust, with an impressive array of upgrades.  Lotus users need not really fret. Nevertheless, many organizations will continue to switch to competing platforms, such as Microsoft's SharePoint, which have the appearance of greater stability and longevity.  In today's environment, even a hint of doubt about a platform's future can cause mass defections.

Which brings me back to everyone, regardless of whether they use Lotus or not.  Software must constantly change.  Your organization's ability to adapt to meet market demands, shifting regulatory requirements and countless technological developments depends as much on your software choices as it does on any other single factor.  Especially in today's online and mobile banking environment, banks and credit unions often find either severe limitations or lucrative new avenues to growth via their technological investments.

Why should you care?  Because there are many products which look OK today, but which will be outmoded in a few short years.  Credit Unions typically buy these products off the shelf and then cobble them together.  Which is fine.  But only if careful consideration is given to your organization's future needs, then checked against the likely future of your software.  What's the update history?  Compatibility?  Platform requirements?  How stable is the provider?  How robust is the service agreement?

If you're not asking these types of questions about your products, you may be stuck replacing them sooner rather than later.  Or finding yourself stuck behind the times, just like the once-mighty Lotus.