Updated Version of Domino Instant! Host to Support All European Languages
And Offer Enhanced Development Features
BERLIN, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- At Lotusphere Europe 98, Lotus business partners, including leading Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Lotus 'Net Service Provider, Alliance Partners ('NSPAPs), previewed new teamware applications and services based on Domino Instant! Host. Domino Instant! Host is the emerging standard platform that enables Lotus business partners and Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to develop, and service providers to host, a catalog of applications designed to provide organizations with easy and convenient access to a wide variety of solutions for collaborating on the Web.
Lotus also announced that, beginning in 1999, IBM Global Services will join Bell Emergis/Mpact Immedia, Interliant, Telia and Telecom Italia to provide services based on Domino Instant! Host. In addition, British Telecom and France Telecom are developing Domino Instant! Host-based services around the growing "communities of interest" concept.
In addition, Lotus announced that Domino Instant! Host 1.1, an updated version of the platform, will be available to Lotus 'Net Service Providers ('NSPs) in October. This updated version supports all European locales and languages, and offers new ease-of-use and enhanced development features.
"Domino Instant! Host has set the standard for teamware for the industry," said Brian Bell, senior vice president of Lotus' Emerging Products Group. "Now, with the international version of the platform, the development capacity of more than 18,000 business partners and our strategic relationships with several key service providers in various international markets, Lotus is well-positioned to deliver the cost-effective and immediate productivity benefits of this technology to a new class of users worldwide."
Developed jointly by Lotus and Interliant, a leading provider of application hosting services, the Domino Instant! Host platform manages an emerging class of Web applications that end users can quickly and easily access, configure and use outside their firewalls. Domino Instant! Host is designed to be run by service providers and facilitates the interaction between the server and the application, including billing, tracking and maintenance of applications in a shared Domino server environment.
New features offered in Domino Instant! Host 1.1 include:
-- Support for all European locales and languages;
-- Simplified installation and configuration, reducing the number of steps
required to configure and instantiate sample applications;
-- An enhanced customer service console offering improved account
management and movement of instances between servers;
-- A session-based User Instance Month (UIM) model, which meters UIMs only
when the application is accessed, providing greater flexibility for
ISVs and service providers who are offering applications which involve
occasional use;
-- Additional APIs and system management hooks that enable third-parties
to provide a more comprehensive DIH systems management solution; and,
-- Year 2000 compliance.
IBM Global Services, IBM's fastest growing business segment and world's largest information technology services provider, plans to offer Domino Instant! Host-based applications to its IBM Workgroup Services infrastructure customers beginning in 1999. "As a major player in this market segment, we view Domino Instant! Host as a key piece of enabling technology to meet the needs of our customers in the rapidly emerging hosted services and application subscription market," said Tom Gustin, general manager, e-business network services for IBM Global Services.
New Wave of Teamware Applications for Domino Instant! Host Complementing Lotus' initiative to extend the power of collaborative technology to all types of users, Lotus Business Partners are continuing to embrace the Domino Instant! Host platform as the de facto platform for developing Web collaboration solutions that are practical, affordable and tailored to the needs of organizations varying widely in size. "Leveraging the collaborative power of Domino Instant! Host, we are able to offer customers a whole new class of Web-based business services," said Marco Romagnoli, managing director of Telecom Italia's ICT Solutions Unit. "This helps us stand out in what is becoming a very crowded market. The instant, easy-to-use functionality of our Village Pocket Office suite of applications saves time and money, which appeals to the widest group of current and potential customers."
Currently, many Lotus Business Partners are developing mission-critical collaborative solutions based on Domino Instant! Host, including:
-- Devlin Applied Design -- Decision Room applications provide extended,
industry-specific collaborative workspaces targeted for planning annual
meetings and other events, as well as law and media-related projects.
-- dotCOM Internet Ltd -- ebusiness WebSite Wizard offers a suite of
easy-to-use tools based on Lotus Domino that provide any individual or
company with a facility for creating and managing a Web site via the
Internet, from anywhere at anytime. WebSite Wizard places the control
where it belongs -- in the hands of the Web site owner.
-- IT FACTORY A/S -- IT Factory Business Suite offers a suite of
11 line-of-business applications that work together to carry out
departmental and enterprise-level tasks. Applications include: Sales
Force Automation, Human Resources, Marketing Management, Project
Management, E-commerce, Document Management, Help Desk, Customer
Service, Internet Solution, Intranet Solution and Data Integration.
-- Telecom Italia -- Village Pocket Office, jointly developed by Lotus
Business Partner ASG, optimizes communication among enterprises,
employees and partners through a suite of ten applications: Document
Delivery, Archiving Correspondence, Managing Working Documents,
Managing Sales Contacts, Organization Structure, and Managing Events,
Press, Discussions, Travels and Vacations.
-- wareSource -- QuickShow! enables teams to collaboratively create slide
shows for sales presentations, online courses, tutorials, etc., with
images and text. Users can view slides categorized by keywords or run
the AutoShow feature for automatic slide shows.
-- Who's Where serves as an electronic in/out board and message board,
allowing people to leave permanent and temporary contact information,
phone numbers and e-mail addresses for other team members.
-- JobBoard brings job applicants and employers together by allowing
applicants to submit resumes for job consideration or employers to
search and review online resumes for appropriate candidates.
-- Living Yearbook provides a virtual yearbook for alumni to keep track of
each other and for the alumni association to post events and alumni
news.
In addition, Lotus' Instant!TEAMROOM 1.5, which enables ad-hoc work teams to manage initiatives and collaborate on projects for a specific, user-defined period of time, is available now. The following applications will be available through the end of 1998 and the first quarter of 1999: a Year 2000 Risk Management application from Earley & Associates; an auction facility and survey application from EmpowerNet; a customer support and help desk application from GWI Software; and a customer support application from Softnetics Corporation.
In addition to the platform, Lotus also provides the Domino Instant! Host Software Developer Kit (SDK) to enable developers and ISVs to modify existing applications, or to develop and test new Domino-based applications for the Domino Instant! Host platform. This kit includes an application development and runtime environment, an architectural overview of the Domino Instant! Host platform, and an API specification that standardizes the interaction between the service provider's hosting environment and the business partner's application.
Domino Instant! Host Pricing and Availability
Domino Instant! Host 1.1 for the Windows NT operating system will be available to Lotus 'NSPs via free download at http://www.lotus.com/host in October 1998. The current version, Domino Instant! Host 1.0.1, also supports all European languages and locales. Electronic keys for activating instances of applications written for the platform are available from Lotus' e-commerce site via a link from http://www.lotus.com/host. Key prices remain unchanged from last year and continue to be based on volume, beginning at $500 for a 375 user instance month key. Support offerings for Domino Instant! Host also are detailed at http://www.lotus.com/host.
The Domino Instant! Host SDK is currently available for download to all authorized Lotus Business Partners via Lotus' Web site at http://www.lotus.com/host. Service providers interested in building services based on Domino Instant! Host and Web developers interested in receiving the Domino Instant! Host SDK are encouraged to join the Lotus Business Partner Program and should register to become partners by calling 800-START-SMART.
Lotus Development Corporation, founded in 1982, is a subsidiary of IBM Corporation. Lotus offers high quality software products and services that reflect the company's unique understanding of the new ways in which individuals and businesses must work together to achieve success. Lotus' innovative approach is evident in a new class of applications that allow users to access and communicate information in ways never before possible, both within and beyond organizational boundaries. Lotus now markets its products in more than 80 countries worldwide and provides numerous professional consulting, support and education services through the Lotus Services Group.
Lotus and Lotusphere are registered trademarks and Domino, Domino Instant! Host, and Instant!TEAMROOM are registered trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation. Interliant is a service mark of Interliant, Inc. All other trademarks are owned by their respective companies.
A copy of this release and other company information is also available via fax by dialing 1-800-57-LOTUS within the U.S. and Canada or 201-946-2336 outside the U.S. and Canada.
