IBM Corp is stepping up its plan to funnel customers into using its Lotus Domino web server and groupware technology as the basis of their electronic businesses in a big way tomorrow when it unveils a slew of Domino- and Java-based products for connect existing Software Servers to the web and re-packages its Internet Connection Servers with Lotus applications. It says its strategic aim is not to intercept Netscape and Microsoft customers, but to capture them early. In amongst what we understand will be five new Software Servers revealed on the day include LotusGo, which is the codename for a re-packaged ICS Internet Connection Server designed to win low- and entry-level web serving business. It includes Lotus Mail and Domino plus a bag of development tools for doing HTTP publishing. It is being used as the basis for deploying transaction services from other Software Servers on to the web. A product name will be attached in a month or so once legal issues are resolved. Lotus Go is due later in the year along with Lotus Domino Mail, a calendaring, mail and messaging package targeted at customers who are moving to Lotus. IBM will be taking the product head-to-head with Netscape Communications Corp’s Communicator web-based groupware – in fact Netscape debuts its new Constellation desktop software tommorow, also in San Francisco. IBM hopes Domino Mail customers will translate into Domino web server users in the long-term; the product is due later in the year. IBM will also offer a bunch of connector and gateway products to tie Software Servers – Communications, Database, Directory and Security, Internet Connection, Systems Management, Transaction and Lotus Notes – to the web. There’s a Lotus Domino Connector, an electronic business connector, plus an electronic business enhancer with Internet Scale, Security, Directory and Administration modules. Internet Scale will include the existing network dispatcher, DSS Web compression and wireless services. Putting all of our gateway code into one place… and better packaging, is how IBM described the products. It will also offer packages of electronic business development tools, including Lotus, Visual Age, and Visual Age for Java. GoPro is a DB2 database Software Server packaged with the Fusion web site building and maintenance application from IBM’s NetObjects Inc acquisition, plus the Lotus Bean Machine – the visual Java development tool previously known as Applet Author. Domino and NetObjects won’t work together for some considerable time however, IBM warns. Visual Age for electronic business is slated to be a combined package of NetObjects, Visual Age for Java, Java Bean Machine and the Taligent WebRunner Toolkit. It’s due in the third quarter. Visual Age for Java and the Bean Machine, for building a gluing Java Beans components together are expected in June. The driving theme behind the initiative, as one executive stressed is to sell Domino!
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