IBM/Lotus Backs Return To 'Fat' Full-Function Client

When it comes to software, it turns out there is such a thing as too thin.

The browser-based clients that have been the rage since the dot-com boom are simply not functional enough for real-world productivity, according to some industry heavyweights.

Last week, IBM's Lotus Software Group pledged to develop a full-function "rich" client built atop the open-source Eclipse framework for its Domino installed base. Domino versions 7.0 and 8.0 will provide full, rich-client access to applications, regardless of whether the user is connected to the Web, Lotus Software General Manager Ambuj Goyal told CRN.

Goyal: Future Domino versions will provide full access on- and offline.

Domino 7.0, due late next year, promises to support disconnected mail use, which would allow customers to manage mail and folders and perform other tasks offline, and builds on Notes/Domino's heritage. Domino 8.0 will bring the same disconnected support for other applications, Goyal said.

But while Lotus also continues to promote browser-based Workplace Messaging in the name of customer choice, there is a renewed push for more robust, fat clients after years in which virtually all business applications had to be browser-accessible. In fact, many companies mandated that before buying, said Jeff Cook, infrastructure consultant for Venture Systemsource, a Melville, N.Y., IBM partner.

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%A0LOTUS PRODUCT ROAD MAP >>%A0Q1 2004: Notes/Domino 6.5.1 (includes fixes, integrated IM, Team Workplace, Domino Document Management) >>%A0Q2 2004: Workplace 2.0 (rich client, collaborative document management, Workplace Builder tools) >>%A0Q3 2004: WebSphere Portal 5.1 >>%A0Q4 2004: Workplace 2.5 (better support for disconnected clients, better mobile device support); Domino 7.0 (DB2 support, enhanced portlets, Workplace integration, better e-mail support for disconnected users) >>%A0BEYOND 2004: Domino 8.0 (better rich-client applications support for disconnected users)
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Now the pendulum is swinging back toward fat,and not just for Lotus. The ideal is ubiquitous access to applications and data wherever they reside plus local intelligence to fully act on all those riches. That vision is remarkably similar to Microsoft's message more than 10 years ago, when it envisioned Office as the user's interface to all data.

Those in search of proof need only review messages coming out of the recent Professional Developers Conference, where Microsoft launched an effort to get ISVs excited about developing full-fledged client apps for Longhorn, the next version of Windows.

The jury is out on how successful this push was, given that Longhorn isn't expected until 2005 and the number of ISVs developing full-client Windows applications has dwindled.

The lines between platforms, tools and applications are blurring, with Microsoft, Oracle and other software powers leaving less to third parties, said Dana Gardner, analyst with Boston-based Yankee Group.

Still, the fat vs. thin debate appears to be over, at least for many solution providers.

"It is very tough to program a rich environment in the browser. It just runs out of gas," said Andy Vabulas, CEO of I.B.I.S., a Norcross, Ga., solution provider. "I understand the allure of simplicity, low maintenance and zero footprint, but when you get down to it, if you want an app that is user-friendly and robust enough to do real business, you need more."