IBM has introduced a new collaboration software suite in the Cloud, LotusLive, which combines enterprise-class email, calendaring, instant messaging, Web conferencing, file sharing and social networking services in a $10 per user per month package.
LotusLive provides customers with application integration with services made available by third-party providers.
IBM has teamed with providers such as Silanis and Skype to provide integrated services that enable customers to use electronic signing capabilities and voice-over-IP services utilising integration points with their LotusLive data.
The company has also unveiled a Cloud service called LotusLive Notes, which delivers email, shared calendar, instant messaging and personal contact services, starting at only $5 per user, per month.
IBM has also introduced a feature within LotusLive called Communities to help advance organisations’ ability to work together both inside and outside their enterprise.
Within a Community, members have the ability to tag information, share files and bookmarks, track projects and host discussion forums across multiple companies.
IBM vice president of cloud collaboration Sean Poulley said, businesses are looking to reduce costs, do more with less, and find ways to work more closely with their customers and partners.
"LotusLive gives them the right tools to do this, delivered by a company they trust and is focused on security and reliability," Poulley said.
IBM has also announced two new integrations with third-party providers, Tungle and Bricsys, designed to allow customers to collaborate seamlessly in their day-to-day work.
Tungle has teamed with IBM to integrate its online scheduling and calendar services with LotusLive, with a separate, no charge-subscription for Tungle services, LotusLive users can import their LotusLive contacts into Tungle.me, access their Tungle.me accounts from within LotusLive, and click to meet contacts from within the LotusLive interface.
Bricsys, a provider of cloud-based document, data, task and report sharing, has teamed with IBM to integrate its Vondle services with LotusLive.
With a separate subscription for Vondle Live, users can choose to import their LotusLive documents into their Vondle Live account to view and annotate documents right from their browser, without having to download them or own the original software.
