I feel like it's important to correct and clarify some things I shared in the past. Most importantly the issue of catapult release.
Mostly due to language barriers, I made a mistake in my assumptions. I've since been corrected by some within NEM foundation.

Lon Wong said catapult source will be released this quarter. However, he was meaning the mijin source - which DOES run on catapult code. Mijin is a private chain. It's primary use is for businesses to use an in-house chain that can communicate with the main NEM public chain.

Additionally, I was told that Lon may have meant by the end of the 4th month, which would be April. I guess we will find out soon enough!
This is still great news! It will make it much easier for businesses to use mijin and likely the main NEM chain as well. It should draw the attention of large enterprise seeking to improve their current in-house operations.

Mijin chain can reduce operational costs for many businesses by a significant degree. - No need to take backups, no need for extensive hardware, no need for elaborate security software, amongst so many things! Even things we might not consider right away - like a business no longer having a need for file-cabinets, thus saving on floor space, time spent finding paperwork, loss of documents, etc.

With all that said. Catapult implementation on the public chain is unlikely to occur before the 3rd quarter, which begins July 1st. However, don't bank on this exact date, as it will most likely require more time. At the same time, I wouldn't wait until then to plan an investment in NEM.

Even with the current state of NEM, we have great advantages over other smart-asset blockchains, including Ethereum. Many smart asset chains aren't even a functional product yet, and most don't expect to be this year.