IBM Extends Value of Lotus Platform With Next Generation Notes and Domino, New Mobile Options and Expanded Platform Support

1 January 1970

Building on 2005 double-digit growth in its Lotus Software brand, IBM today announced new programs, business partner offerings and platform support that will extend the value of the Lotus® Notes® and Domino® platform, help increase productivity and lower costs for Lotus customers and Business Partners.

As the collaboration needs of knowledge workers expand beyond simple e-mail, IBM is evolving and extending the Lotus Notes and Domino platform to include new services and functions designed to increase performance and provide customers with flexibility and more options. IBM will now offer a choice of multiple computing and browser platforms (including Firefox, Internet Explorer, Windows, Macintosh and Linux®) and a wide variety of upcoming support for mobile solutions. Today's announcements address these needs of customers and Business Partners who can generate additional value from their Lotus Notes and Domino investments.

"While some of our competition is narrowing its focus to just e-mail capabilities, IBM continues to expand and evolve Lotus Notes and Domino to deliver the extended business value of a true collaborative platform," said Mike Rhodin, general manager of IBM's Workplace, Portal and Collaboration Software business. "Over the last 20 years, IBM Lotus has defined this industry and has been at the forefront of collaborative innovation. With a broad new set of programs, platform support and Business Partner activity to support the Lotus Notes and Domino platform, we're continuing to meet the growing needs of our customers and are well positioned to maintain our leadership role into the future."

The latest release of Lotus Notes and Domino includes more than 120 enhancements and is experiencing rapid adoption. After less than six months on the market, more than 3 million users have upgraded to Lotus Notes 7 and 70,000 users have downloaded Domino 7 server software.

Following are some of the new technology innovations, relationships and programs being announced today that can help customers and Business Partners extend the value of their Lotus Notes and Domino investment:

-- First public demonstration of the next generation of Lotus Notes, code-named "Hannover," and announcement of the next major release of Lotus Domino. IBM plans to enhance the next major version of Lotus Domino with support for service-oriented architecture (SOA), composite applications, activity-centric computing and support for server-managed clients. Designed to work with the next major release of Lotus Notes, code-named "Hannover," the next major version of Lotus Domino will continue IBM's tradition of innovation in the collaboration space and provide many new features and functions to address the evolving needs of our customers, including portal services from WebSphere Portal, updated document library services and team spaces. The next major versions of Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino will be available in 2007.

-- IBM Lotus Notes Suite for SAP Solutions. This solution is designed to integrate and extend common end-user tasks in Lotus Notes into SAP business processes. Based on IBM and SAP's existing integration tools, available since 1997, this new solution expands this integration into calendaring, time tracking, contact management, report generation, approval workflows and other common business tasks. By making it easier to access the information they need, this enhanced integration with SAP can help increase productivity and lower costs. The IBM Lotus Notes Suite for SAP Solutions is planned for availability in the first half of 2006.

-- Expanded Macintosh Support for Lotus Notes 7 and Lotus Domino Web Access. IBM will provide expanded support for Mac OS X, including support for Lotus Notes 7 on Apple's Mac OS X version 10.4 "Tiger" with integrated Lotus Sametime instant messaging, and plans to support Apple's new Intel-based Macs. This enhanced level of support allows Lotus Notes 7 customers who have chosen the Mac OS X platform to enjoy unique end-user benefits. In addition, IBM will introduce new Macintosh support for Domino Web Access, IBM's browser-based messaging client, via the Firefox browser.

-- Expanded Mobile Options through IBM Business Partners. As users demand more diverse combinations of mobile access, IBM's broad ecosystem of partners have helped expand the flexible set of options for Lotus Notes and Domino customers.

Lotus Notes and Domino 7 announcements from IBM Business Partners include:

-- Research In Motion - Showcasing BlackBerry Enterprise Server 4.1 with

plans to support IBM Lotus Domino 7 with integrated support for IBM Lotus

Sametime client support for BlackBerry handheld devices.

-- Nokia - introducing planned support of Lotus Notes and Domino via

Nokia Business Center mobile application platform.

-- Good Technology - demonstrating planned support of Lotus Notes and

Domino via Good's GoodLink wireless messaging solution.

-- Intellisync - planning support for Lotus Notes and Domino in the

expected release of Intellisync Mobile Suite for IBM® Lotus Notes® and

Domino® 7. The solution allows users to send and receive Lotus® Domino

email, files, and data from almost any mobile device over the air,

extending Intellisync's line of mobile software products that support IBM

and Lotus Notes products.

-- "Move2Lotus on Linux" migration initiative. "Move2Lotus" is IBM's successful migration program that provides the tools and expertise for organizations looking to migrate to Lotus Domino from competing platforms. Over the past several years, Move2Lotus has helped many customers migrate to Lotus Domino from competing platforms, including Microsoft Exchange. IBM market research shows that the growth rate for the Lotus Domino on Linux was over 200% in 2005. Based on this growth, the upcoming promotion will help Business Partners to migrate customers from Exchange and other competitive collaboration platforms to Lotus Domino on Linux.

IBM, Domino, Lotus, Notes, Sametime and Workplace are trademarks of IBM Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Microsoft, Exchange, and the Windows logo are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. Linux is a trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States, other countries, or both.

Contact:

Jennifer Snyder

IBM

Jennifer_snyder@us.ibm.com

T: 617-693-7539

SOURCE: IBM

Source: marketwire

All trademarks and copyrighted information contained herein are the property of their respective owners.