Lotus Internet Strategy

Lotus

Lotus Internet Strategy

"I am the second-biggest Java fan in the industry, behind only Scott McNealy.
Why? Java will be instrumental in loosening Gates' stranglehold on the world."

- Jeff Papows, Lotus CEO, quoted in the October 1996 issue of Fortune Magazine

PRESS RELEASE

Lotus Details Vision for Expanding Role and Impact of the Internet in Business at Lotusphere 97

Outlines Future Directions for Inter/Intranet-Based Communication, Collaboration and Commerce; Reveals Next Generation Client and Messaging Software

ORLANDO, FL., Jan. 27, 1997 -- At Lotusphere 97, Lotus' fourth annual business and technology conference held here, Lotus Development Corp today outlined its plans to extend its position as the leading provider of products and services that make it easy for developers, small to medium-size businesses and large enterprises to deliver sophisticated applications that exploit the Internet to communicate, collaborate and conduct electronic commerce.

Those plans include a bold new vision for client software that will leapfrog competitive products and provide users with a family of flexible client offerings ranging from single purpose Internet e-mail applications to open standards-based, integrated Notes desktop products. These new products set new standards for information access, application integration and ease-of-use for network computing.

The company also announced its new messaging strategy, new Domino.Applications, and the availability of Domino.Merchant and Domino.Broadcast for PointCast, as well as the Domino SPA Developer Kit for creating rentable applications.

Lotus previewed a set of applets developed in Java to deliver productivity solutions for all computers that run Java Virtual Machines, including PC-based Web browsers, network computers and Notes clients.

Addressing a sold-out audience of 9,000 customers and business partners, Lotus president Jeff Papows, executive vice president of strategy Mike Zisman, and IBM chairman and chief executive officer Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. presented Lotus and IBM's vision for delivering solutions that will enable users to harness the power of the Internet to establish and grow their businesses. The conference features more than 230 sessions for attendees to learn about the latest Lotus developments, including in-depth product demonstrations, tutorials and case studies of business implementations. In addition, more than 250 Lotus Business Partners demonstrated their Lotus-based solutions in the Lotus Business Partner Showcase and made more than 160 new Notes- and Domino-based product and service announcements at the conference.

Lotus' Communication and Collaboration Solutions are the Engines for Business on the Internet
"Two years after its meteoric emergence as a popular computing environment and the wide recognition of its potential as a platform for communication, collaboration and commerce, the Internet is just beginning to deliver on the promise of creating real business value for individuals and organizations," said Papows. "The means to realize this potential is through the implementation of high-value, collaborative groupware solutions that enable organizations and their partners to coordinate activities and conduct business in a secure manner. This is the area in which Lotus and its Business Partners have significantly more expertise and in-market experience than all the competition, and we are leveraging that unique knowledge and the Internet itself to help a rapidly expanding base of customers realize its potential to increase their effectiveness at conducting business through the Internet."

Papows continued, "In fact, research findings from a 'Best Practices' study to be previewed at Lotusphere affirm that companies are increasingly achieving unprecedented business results by incorporating Lotus groupware and intranet technologies into their strategic information systems. Attendees at this year's conference are seeing products that reinforce our commitment to delivering the most compelling combination of power and simplicity in Web-based solutions that make robust Internet commerce a reality."

New Client Strategy Advances New Standards for Open Information Access on the Internet
Shown publicly for the first time at Lotusphere, the company previewed its next release of the integrated Lotus Notes client, code-named Lookout, that provides a simplified and enhanced user interface that focuses on specific end-user tasks rather than the technology required to achieve them. The company also described a further client release, called Maui, that will provide support of a broad range of Internet standards and additional enhancements to the user interface. This will enable users to evolve to open standards while maintaining the high degree of functionality they expect, including mobility, integration and security.

Messaging an Essential Element for Collaborative Solutions
Recognizing that messaging capabilities across widely diverse e-mail systems is a prerequisite for business on the Internet, Lotus is converging its messaging product line to give users a range of options from simple electronic mail functions to full featured groupware products. At Lotusphere, the company revealed its messaging strategy that will extend its lead by offering a single, standards-based product line that includes Domino as the strategic server platform and a family of clients that vary by messaging functionality.

Lotus also announced the first component of this strategy, Lotus Mail, a light, fast, e-mail client that embraces the Internet standards.

At the conference, the company also announced the incorporation of capabilities like group calendaring and scheduling and wireless/telephony support into messaging products that will tremendously increase the value those products bring to their users. These offerings will be completely scalable, meeting all needs from individual e-mail users to the most demanding multi-national enterprises.

"Without the robust messaging foundation on which to build collaborative solutions, companies won't succeed in the emerging arena of network-centric computing," said Eileen Rudden, senior vice president, Communications Products Division. "Lotus is the leader in messaging. Today we are extending that lead with new products and outlining our vision for embracing the Internet while protecting the investments our customers have made in Lotus technology."

Strategic Business Applications for Intranets and the Internet
Lotus also detailed plans for enhanced and expanded collaboration solutions including the announcement and availability of a number of Domino.Applications that extend the power of Domino Web servers. Domino.Applications are modules that enable the creation of rich functionality in intranet/extranet sites powered by Domino servers. Domino.Connect integrates Domino applications with a broad range of database, transaction and enterprise systems, enabling companies to create intranets/extranets with customers, suppliers and business partners using different hardware and software systems.

Lotus also announced the availability of Release 1.0 of the Domino SPA Developer Kit that allows Lotus Business Partners to create "rentable" applications that are hosted by Internet Service Providers and employed by Web users on a "pay as they go" and "only when needed" basis. This represents a completely new business opportunity for Web developers and should attract significant numbers of new users to Domino-based business solutions.

The availability of two additional Domino application-specific offerings, Domino.Merchant and Domino.Broadcast for PointCast, were announced at the conference. Domino.Merchant enables organizations to transform Web sites into on-line business centers for complete and secure commerce. Domino.Broadcast for Pointcast delivers headline news, interactive information and business applications to the desktops of corporate intranets. In addition, Lotus announced Lotus LearningSpace 2.0, the industry's first instructor-led, collaborative distance learning solution with Web access.

Java Applets, Java-Based Operating Environment & Lotus Component Technologies Enable New Classes of Productivity Applications
Lotus previewed a set of applets developed in Java to deliver productivity solutions for all computers that run Java Virtual Machines, including PC-based Web browsers, network computers and Notes clients. Scheduled to ship this summer, these 100% pure Java cross-platform applets will enable information technology managers to reduce the cost of developing and deploying business productivity solutions, and more effectively use intranets and the Internet to connect employees, customers, suppliers and partners to conduct business.

At the conference, Lotus demonstrated its Java applets working as a complete set of integrated desktop tools running on an NC. They also showed a powerful, interactive Internet application built with the Java applets used as building blocks by Web developers. The set of Java applets demonstrated by Lotus included a spreadsheet, text editor, chart builder, calendar and personal information manager, e-mail, presentation graphics application and project scheduler.

Along with its Java applets, Lotus also previewed a Java-based operating environment designed to run on top of any Java Virtual Machine (VM), providing an elegant and intuitive user interface for network computers. Created with the enterprise user in mind, this new operating environment, code-named the Kona Desktop, includes functionality increasingly ubiquitous in the corporate world, such as Web browsing, file management, electronic mail, enterprise data access, and personal information management.

The Kona Desktop is componentized and therefore customizable, and because it adheres to the desktop integration standards being developed by Sun and others, it will support any Java application.

Lotus' Java applets effort complements the company's continued development of ActiveX-based computing technologies, including Lotus Components, Lotus' business productivity solutions for Notes. In support of its Notes customers who are deploying ActiveX solutions, Lotus announced today Lotus Components 1.1, an enhanced set of software applets for Lotus Notes. Lotus Components, which began shipping in August 1996, are fast, focused applets, based on ActiveX technology, that allow end users and developers to be more productive in the Lotus Notes environment.

Lotus and Its Partners Expand the Breadth & Depth of the Notes/Domino Industry
As the major event of the year for Lotus Alliance Partners and Lotus Business Partners, Lotusphere is the stage where many new products and services make their debut. Major Lotus Alliance Partners including Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, Apple and Digital announced products and services that further extend and strengthen Lotus' collaborative solutions.

Lotus Business Partners at Lotusphere 97 announced more than 160 market-leading, Lotus-based groupware solutions and services designed to help companies improve business processes, including horizontal areas such as customer service, human resources and sales management, and vertical markets such as manufacturing, retail/distribution, healthcare and government. More than 250 vendors displayed and demonstrated their wares.

Lotus Development Corporation, founded in 1982, is a subsidiary of IBM Corporation. Lotus offers high quality software products and services that reflect the company's unique understanding of the new ways in which individuals and businesses must work together to achieve success. Lotus' innovative approach is evident in a new class of applications that allow users to access and communicate information in ways never before possible, both within and beyond organizational boundaries. Lotus now markets its products in more than 80 countries worldwide and provides numerous professional consulting, support and education services through the Lotus Services Group.

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EDITOR'S NOTE: All Lotus news releases are available on the Internet, via the Lotus Development Corp. Home Page at http://www.Lotus.com. The Lotus Home Page is an easy way to find information about Lotus and its business partners' products and services.

A copy of this release and other company information is also available via fax by dialing 1-800-57-LOTUS within the U.S. and Canada or 201-946-2336 outside the U.S. and Canada.

All prices and terms are for the U.S. only. Lotus and Lotus Notes are registered trademarks, and Domino, Domino.Broadcast, Domino.Merchant, Lotus Components and Notes are trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation. IBM is a registered trademark of IBM Corp. All other company names and products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.