Today, more than 80 percent of the world’s distribution, retailing, manufacturing, banking, and insurance companies use collaboration products like Lotus Notes and Domino to share knowledge, keep track of internal tasks, and access up-to-the-minute business information quickly and efficiently. Recently, Lotus shipped Release 5 (R5) of its popular groupware platform, Notes/Domino, with major enhancements for both new and seasoned users.
The next generation R5 for AS/400 delivers an increased return on investment (ROI). For AS/400 shops, the specific benefit of the Lotus product is the high level of integration between Domino and OS/400. This benefit includes server consolidation, increased reliability and scalability, decreased costs, and a more manageable environment. Taken together, these advantages give organizations a competitive edge in today’s fast- paced market.
The AS/400 subsystem architecture combined with Domino’s partitioning capability delivers the ability to configure multiple segregated and protected Domino servers on a single AS/400. These subsystems or Domino partitions ensure high availability and data redundancy for businesses’ critical messaging and application solutions. And with the OS/400 environment, administrators can easily manage multiple partitions and synchronize support between the Domino directory and the OV/400 directory. Fewer administrators can support different communities of users (i.e., mail users vs. mail-plus-applications users), thus realizing the efficiencies of server consolidation. Instead of constantly tending to the more mundane needs of administration, these technically adept individuals now have the opportunity to apply their skills to develop Notes and Domino applications tailored to fit their organization’s requirements.
R5 products also allow organizations to build on their current investments by leveraging their existing infrastructures and using familiar tools and skills. There is no “ripand-replace” investment or single-platform commitment. Organizations can implement what they need today and have the flexibility to extend their Notes and Domino infrastructure investments as required.
While the greatest ROI results from a combination of Notes R5 and Domino R5, the Notes R5 client delivers full native support for the Internet, most major industry standards and protocols, and can work with any Internet-compliant server. The Domino R5 server
works with Notes but also supports Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and any Internet-standard Internet Mail Access Protocol 4 (IMAP4) client, digital/cellular phones, or personal digital assistants.
Notes Meets the Web
With the Notes R5, Lotus’ email and collaboration client, Lotus created an intuitive, integrated email, calendaring, group scheduling, and Web information management tool. The Notes R5 client allows users to work in a familiar environment based on a browser- like navigation model with the added flexibility and power of Notes.
Users and IT managers can expect to experience immediate benefits from the Notes R5 client. Headlines, a start page within the client, enables users to receive real-time customized news and information on thousands of topics via “AOL: My News” and “Headlines with My Lycos” for Lotus Notes. Additionally, users are able to search the Internet using AOL and Lycos’ Web search capabilities. R5’s welcome page acclimates users by providing quick access to the applications they use most frequently while minimizing training. A redesigned user interface with a navigation bar, bookmarks, and window tabs makes it easy for users to track information in Notes. Enhanced integration with productivity software suites like Lotus SmartSuite and Microsoft Office increases user productivity. R5 includes updated calendar options, new messaging functions, and support for all standards-compliant Web servers.
Improved Internet Messaging
With R5, Lotus is the first software vendor to combine the openness of native Internet messaging with enterprise-level manageability, reliability, and security. While Microsoft’s Platinum (the new name for Exchange Server) claims the same functionality, it’s still in beta and probably won’t see the light of a GA version until the middle of next year. Domino R5 offers users increased messaging security with fully integrated public key infrastructure with support for X.509 certificates. Domino R5 also increases reliability and availability with load balancing, clustering, seamless online server backup, database compaction, full and incremental recovery support, and around-the-clock reliability. Domino R5 includes a scalable directory that can support 1 million entries and allow mobile users to access organizational information. With the Domino Administrator client, IT professionals have a sophisticated, intuitive, task-driven interface with drag-and-drop functionality for common tasks such as moving users and databases from one server to another (see Figures 1 and 2). And Domino R5 includes built-in server monitoring (see Figure 3) and topology mapping for simple or advanced environments.
Rapid Deployment of E-business Applications
Beyond Internet messaging, Lotus Domino R5 can be used to deliver Web applications. Lotus Domino Designer R5 provides developers with a robust, open, and intuitive development tool to rapidly and easily build Web applications with advanced collaborative capabilities. With new visual features such as Frameset Designer, Page Designer, and Outline Designer, Notes Designer presents a comprehensive development environment for easy Web site development tasks. Designer R5 can be used to build applications for Notes, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. And advanced localization features in Domino allow multinational organizations to work across time zones, languages, and cultures. With Designer’s Global Workbench feature, Domino developers can easily build multilingual applications and Web sites.
Domino R5 also delivers real-time integration with enterprise data and applications through a new feature called DECS, or Domino Enterprise Connection Services. DECS provides built-in connectivity to relational databases like DB2/400 and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems from companies such as SAP, Lawson, and PeopleSoft through optional Domino connectors. With Domino for AS/400, these applications can even run on
the same system, enabling unique high-speed integration of Domino with other systems. These new features, combined with those in other Lotus products, including eSuite DevPack 2.0 (Lotus’ collection of Java-based business productivity applications), provide Web developers with a powerful new set of tools to rapidly build and deploy interactive Web applications.
R5 Solutions
Collectively, the R5 products provide the collaborative foundation for e-business, enabling extranets to link customers and suppliers in a secure Web environment. And with more than 19,000 business partners, Lotus offers a wide array of solutions that take advantage of the R5 products.
Lotus provides a number of options to make moving to the R5 products easy and efficient. Various tools and resources are available with the products, such as built-in mail migration tools and guided online tours of the new user interface. Separately, Lotus, IBM, and Lotus’ business partners offer professional services for those who require upgrade assistance. In fact, Lotus recently introduced a worldwide upgrade program called Super.move, which offers a wide array of product and service combinations providing simple and cost-effective routes to Notes and Domino. More information on Super.move is available at www.lotus.com/home.nsf/welcome/supermove. Documentation and Web- based white papers on the upgrade experience are accessible at www.lotus.com/r5. Upgrade documentation for
OfficeVision/400 can be accessed at www.as400.ibm.com/lotus_notes/ovmigcus. Additionally, users can see the R5 products in action by attending a free seminar during the Super.Human.Software Tour 99, which is occurring in more than 100 cities worldwide. For locations and dates, visit www.lotus.com/engine/jumpages.nsf/r5tours?OpenForm.
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