Lotus Notes to React: Reducing Real Estate Asset Management Operational Costs by 45%

The most expensive code in your real estate portfolio isn't the new prop-tech platform you just licensed; it’s the 20-year-old Lotus Notes database running your core asset management workflows. While your competitors are leveraging AI-driven analytics, your team is likely stuck in a "black box" of proprietary Domino logic, struggling with a UI that hasn't changed since 2004.

The $3.6 trillion global technical debt is not a theoretical problem—it is a concrete anchor on enterprise agility. In real estate asset management, where data accuracy and speed-to-market for lease agreements are paramount, the friction of legacy systems is measurable in lost basis points. Moving from lotus notes react has historically been a nightmare of manual archaeology, often taking 18 to 24 months and carrying a 70% failure rate.

TL;DR: By using Replay’s Visual Reverse Engineering to transition from lotus notes react, enterprises can reduce operational costs by 45% and cut modernization timelines from years to weeks.

The Lotus Notes Trap: Why Manual Modernization Fails#

Lotus Notes (HCL Domino) was the original "low-code" platform, but it has become a prison for enterprise data. For a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) or a global asset manager, these databases often house critical lease terms, maintenance schedules, and tenant histories. The problem is that 67% of these legacy systems lack any form of current documentation.

When a CTO decides to modernize, the standard approach is "The Big Bang Rewrite." This involves hiring a team of consultants to spend six months interviewing users and another 18 months trying to replicate complex LotusScript logic in a modern stack.

The Cost of "Archaeology"#

Manual reverse engineering is essentially digital archaeology. Developers must dig through layers of unoptimized code, hidden "agents," and obscure database views. On average, manually documenting and rebuilding a single complex legacy screen takes 40 hours. In a typical asset management suite with 50+ screens, you are looking at thousands of hours of high-cost engineering time before a single line of production-ready React is even written.

From Black Box to React: The Replay Methodology#

The future of modernization isn't rewriting from scratch—it's understanding what you already have. Replay changes the paradigm by using "Video as the source of truth." Instead of reading 20-year-old LotusScript, we record the actual workflows of your asset managers.

When an analyst processes a "Lease Commencement" form in Lotus Notes, Replay captures the DOM changes, the data flow, and the underlying business logic. It then uses AI Automation to generate documented React components and API contracts. This reduces the time per screen from 40 hours to just 4 hours.

Step 1: Workflow Recording#

We don't start with the source code; we start with the user. By recording real-world usage of the Lotus Notes application, Replay captures the "hidden" logic—the validation rules, the conditional formatting, and the multi-step approvals that are rarely documented but are critical to the business.

Step 2: Visual Reverse Engineering#

Replay’s engine analyzes the recording to identify patterns. It recognizes that a specific Lotus Notes "View" is actually a data grid and that a "Subform" is a reusable UI component. It then maps these to your organization’s Design System (Library).

Step 3: Component Generation#

Replay generates clean, type-safe TypeScript and React code. This isn't "spaghetti code" generated by a basic transcoder; it’s structured, modular, and follows modern best practices.

typescript
// Example: Generated React component from a Lotus Notes "Asset Detail" form
import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
import { Button, TextField, Grid, Card } from '@your-org/design-system';
import { useAssetData } from '../hooks/useAssetData';

interface AssetFormProps {
  assetId: string;
  onSave: (data: any) => void;
}

/**
 * @generated Generated via Replay Visual Reverse Engineering
 * Legacy Source: "Property_Management_v4.nsf/AssetEntry"
 * Preserves validation logic for: Square Footage, Lease Expiry, and Tax ID
 */
export const AssetManagementForm: React.FC<AssetFormProps> = ({ assetId, onSave }) => {
  const { data, loading, error } = useAssetData(assetId);
  const [formData, setFormData] = useState(data);

  // Business logic preserved from legacy LotusScript Agent "ValidateLease"
  const validateLeaseTerms = (sqft: number, rate: number) => {
    return sqft > 0 && rate > 0;
  };

  const handleSubmit = () => {
    if (validateLeaseTerms(formData.sqft, formData.rate)) {
      onSave(formData);
    }
  };

  if (loading) return <Spinner />;

  return (
    <Card title="Asset Details">
      <Grid container spacing={2}>
        <Grid item xs={12} md={6}>
          <TextField 
            label="Property Name" 
            value={formData.propertyName} 
            onChange={(e) => setFormData({...formData, propertyName: e.target.value})}
          />
        </Grid>
        <Grid item xs={12} md={6}>
          <TextField 
            label="Square Footage" 
            type="number"
            value={formData.sqft} 
            onChange={(e) => setFormData({...formData, sqft: Number(e.target.value)})}
          />
        </Grid>
        <Button onClick={handleSubmit} variant="primary">Update Asset</Button>
      </Grid>
    </Card>
  );
};

💡 Pro Tip: When moving from lotus notes react, focus on the "Flows" first. Documenting the state transitions of a lease approval is more valuable than just copying the UI fields.

Reducing Operational Costs by 45%#

In Real Estate Asset Management, operational costs are driven by two factors: system maintenance and process efficiency.

1. •Eliminating Legacy Infrastructure: Maintaining Domino servers is expensive. It requires niche talent (Notes developers are increasingly rare and costly) and specialized hardware/OS support. By moving to a cloud-native React frontend with a modern backend, companies often see a 30% reduction in direct IT overhead.
2. •Accelerating Workflow Speed: Lotus Notes is notorious for its "heavy" client and slow sync times. A modern React application, optimized for the web, allows asset managers to update property data in the field via mobile devices. This eliminates the "double-entry" problem where managers take notes on paper and type them into the system later.

💰 ROI Insight: One global real estate firm used Replay to modernize 120 legacy screens in just 4 months. They estimated a manual rewrite would have cost $2.4M; Replay reduced that cost to $650k, while simultaneously creating a full Technical Debt Audit.

Technical Implementation: Handling the Data Layer#

The biggest hurdle in the lotus notes react journey is the data. Lotus Notes is a document-oriented database, which doesn't always map cleanly to relational SQL databases.

Replay assists here by generating API Contracts. By observing the data sent between the Notes client and the server during a recording, Replay can define the JSON schema required for your new modern API.

json
// Generated API Contract for Lease Extraction
{
  "contract_id": "string",
  "tenant_info": {
    "name": "string",
    "tax_id": "string",
    "contact_email": "email"
  },
  "lease_terms": {
    "start_date": "ISO8601",
    "end_date": "ISO8601",
    "base_rent": "decimal",
    "escalation_clause": "boolean"
  },
  "metadata": {
    "legacy_notes_unid": "string",
    "last_modified_by": "string"
  }
}

Preserving Business Logic without the Archaeology#

One of the primary reasons legacy rewrites fail is the "missing feature" bug. After 20 years, a Lotus Notes application has hundreds of edge cases baked into the code. Replay's AI Automation Suite identifies these logic branches during the recording phase.

If a user enters a value that triggers a specific workflow—like a "High Value Lease" requiring an extra VP approval—Replay flags this as a "Flow." This ensures that your new React application isn't just a pretty face, but a fully functional replacement that respects existing business rules.

⚠️ Warning: Never attempt a direct 1:1 data migration from Domino to SQL without first mapping your application "Flows." You will lose the context of how the data was created.

Built for Regulated Environments#

For Financial Services and Healthcare firms, "moving to the cloud" isn't a simple decision. Security and compliance are non-negotiable. Replay is built for these high-stakes environments:

• •SOC2 & HIPAA Ready: We understand the sensitivity of asset management data.
• •On-Premise Availability: For organizations with strict data residency requirements, Replay can be deployed entirely within your firewall.
• •Technical Debt Audit: Every modernization project with Replay includes a comprehensive audit, giving you a clear picture of what was moved, what was retired, and what remains.

The 10x Modernization Workflow#

How does a 24-month project become a 2-month project? It’s about removing the manual labor from the critical path.

1. •Inventory (Days 1-5): Use Replay to scan your Lotus Notes environment and identify the most used databases and forms.
2. •Recording (Days 6-15): Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) record themselves performing their daily tasks. No technical knowledge required.
3. •Extraction (Days 16-30): Replay’s Blueprints editor generates the React components. Architects review and refine the generated code.
4. •Integration (Days 31-45): Connect the new React frontend to your modern data stack using the Replay-generated API contracts.
5. •Validation (Days 46-60): Run E2E tests (also generated by Replay) to ensure the new system matches the legacy behavior perfectly.

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Frequently Asked Questions#

How does Replay handle complex LotusScript agents?#

Replay uses Visual Reverse Engineering to observe the effects of the agents. Instead of trying to translate the code line-by-line, we look at the data transformations and UI changes the agent produces. This allows us to recreate the logic in modern TypeScript without needing to understand the intricacies of 90s-era scripting.

Can we use our own Design System with the generated React code?#

Yes. Replay’s "Library" feature allows you to upload your organization’s modern UI components (e.g., MUI, Tailwind, or a custom internal library). Replay then maps the legacy Lotus Notes elements directly to your specific components, ensuring the output is "on-brand" and ready for production.

What is the typical timeline for a lotus notes react migration?#

While a manual rewrite takes 18-24 months for a standard enterprise suite, Replay typically completes the extraction and documentation phase in 4-8 weeks. The final timeline depends on the complexity of your backend integration, but the "UI and Logic" bottleneck is effectively removed.

Does Replay help with E2E testing?#

Absolutely. One of the key outputs of the Replay platform is a suite of generated E2E tests. Because we have the recording of the legacy workflow, we can generate Playwright or Cypress tests that verify the new React application behaves identically to the original system.

Is my data safe during the recording process?#

Replay is built for regulated industries. We offer on-premise deployment options and robust data masking features to ensure that PII (Personally Identifiable Information) or sensitive financial data is never exposed during the reverse engineering process.

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Ready to modernize without rewriting? Book a pilot with Replay - see your legacy screen extracted live during the call.