Cambridge-based Lotus Development Corp has finally decided to buy the company that created its flagship Notes groupware product, and is to pay $84m for Iris Associates Inc of Westford, Massachusetts. Iris Associates, which has continued to contribute to development of Notes, will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lotus, and several key executives will remain, including chief executive officer Ray Ozzie. Iris Associates developed three major releases of Lotus Notes and periodic enhancements with development funding from Lotus in exchange for royalty payments on Notes sales. Lotus notes that it has owned the source code to Notes since 1988.
