Lotus Unleashes Domino, QuickPlace, Sametime Updates
IBM's Lotus Software Group
The long-awaited Domino 6 (see related story), will be offered with IBM's WebSphere application server to endow Domino-based collaborative applications with J2EE support.
Lotus is moving to a per-CPU pricing model that is more aligned with IBM Software's other server offerings next January. For now, the Domino e-mail server is $894 per server; the full Domino application server is $2,308 per server. Both require iNotes or full Notes client access licenses (CALs) for all users. The new Domino Utility Server is $11,750 per CPU but requires no CALs.
Chief among new features are server-side spam controls and tighter links to other IBM server software and Microsoft's Active Directory, the company said.
The new Sametime is now more easily tied into existing enterprise applications and supports the Session Initiation Protocol for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions protocols for interoperability with other instant messaging systems.
QuickPlace 3 lets users pull together all their meeting spaces for easier search and management.
Also unveiled Tuesday was IBM Lotus LearningSpace Virtual Classroom, which the company calls an easy-to-deploy e-learning system that offers realtime interaction between instructors and students.
Without volume discounts, Sametime, which Lotus bills as enterprise-ready secure instant messaging, is $38 per user. QuickPlace is $39 per user.
A variety of Lotus business partners were ready to rally around the new offerings.
Wolcott Systems Group, Fairlawn, Ohio, is offering a new Automated Deployment Toolkit to ease upgrades to Domino 6. The software centralizes management and automates upgrades, deployments and migrations, the company said.
IMLogic and FaceTime Communications said their respective IM Manager and IM Auditor offerings will bolster management and reporting capabilities of Sametime.
DYS Analytics said its Control Products will analyze and monitor traffic and usage of Domino 6.