[Am-info] New Lotus Apps Will Stress Collaboration

[Fred A. Miller]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

New Lotus Apps Will Stress Collaboration

Lotus Software is slated to release new versions of its Sametime=20
and Quickplace apps this summer, followed by the long-awaited=20
update to its flagship Domino server and Notes client. The unit=20
of IBM expects the new apps will show that its software is about=20
much more than messaging and will solidify its status as a maker=20
of collaborative applications.

In fact, one of Lotus' emerging strengths is in powering the=20
collaborative capabilities of business portals and the processes=20
behind them. Unicco Service Co., a $600 million provider of=20
facilities services, is developing a Novell-powered customer=20
portal, myUnicco.com, that will use Lotus technologies to=20
automate processes and interactions by exposing applications and=20
collaborative tools. The Auburndale, Mass., firm is using Notes=20
to develop electronic forms with embedded workflow, and=20
Quickplace to drive collaboration and information sharing between=20
employees and customers. It also plans to use the Domino.doc tool=20
for document sharing and the real-time collaboration capabilities=20
of Sametime to conduct E-learning and reduce travel expenses.

The changes are paying off even before the customer portal is=20
finished. Unicco deployed an internal work-order-management app=20
that's cut the processing of work requests to two days from two=20
weeks. Unicco also is working on an employee portal to provide a=20
single interface into multiple apps, and that's precisely the=20
kind of environment Lotus says its products are built to support.=20
The goal is to leverage Java 2 Enterprise Edition and=20
Web-services standards to make groups of applications function as=20
simply as a single app. "It's no longer effective to have to=20
train someone on 12 apps," says Arthur Fontaine, senior market=20
manager for Lotus' messaging group. "Notes is just like Word, but=20
instead of making documents, it makes collaboration." - Tony=20
Kontzer

Read more about messaging and collaboration:
More Than An Inbox
http://update.informationweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=3DeHSP0Bce7K0V20BcPx0AJ

Update Lets Customers Groove For Themselves
http://update.informationweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=3DeHSP0Bce7K0V20BdC50Ay

- --=20
Fred A. Miller
Systems Administrator
Cornell Univ. Press Services
fm@cupserv.org, www.cupserv.org
- --- SuSE Linux v8.0 Pro---
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org

iEYEARECAAYFAjzr3AoACgkQB9vk4ichYXey+wCfcBG4Kp7TcYlvPYyU99QssfEv
10IAoJiUBqSkaXm2EstOsi2okM1U1g9W
=3DS7dA
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----