Hot skills: Collaborative working suite builds on open
standards
What is it?
Lotus Workplace is a set of customisable online work
collaboration products from IBM's Lotus division. The products
consist of Workplace Messaging, Workplace Team Collaboration,
Workplace Collaborative Learning, and Workplace Web Content
Management.
When rumours of Workplace first surfaced about three years ago,
it was described as an "MS Office-killer". It has subsequently
become clear that there is a lot more to it than that.
Microsoft Office users can, if they wish, continue with Office,
while making use of the kind of collaboration features IBM has long
had with Lotus Domino and Websphere, and which Microsoft is only
now beginning to pack into Office. On the other hand, there is a
migration path to Openoffice.
Although IBM stresses the openness of its offerings, Workplace
is essentially a repackaging of core IBM technologies.
IBM describes Workplace as "a family of products and
technologies for creating adaptive, unified, secure work
environments that can be customised based on users' unique roles
and/or skill levels in the organisation".
It is based on open standards, building on the J2EE platform,
the Eclipse development environment, and the Oasis Open Document
format, which Microsoft is challenging with OpenXML.
Where did it originate?
Lotus Notes, the foundation of IBM's collaboration software,
appeared in 1989, and was acquired by IBM in 1995. Websphere
Application Server was released in 1998, and in 2001, IBM announced
that Websphere was to be its strategic integration platform.
What is it for?
The Workplace family includes Collaboration Services, an
integrated set of e-mail, calendaring and scheduling, web
conference and document management tools.
The Workplace Managed Client provides access to the
Collaboration Services, and includes an Openoffice-based suite of
productivity applications, including word processing, spreadsheet,
presentation and project management. Documents can be saved in
Microsoft Office format, or Microsoft Office documents can be
reopened as Openoffice. The browser is used to create users' own
desktops, providing access to Workplace applications.
What makes it special?
On the plus side, IBM has pulled together a lot of its own tried
and tested technology with the best of open standards and open
source. On the minus side, Workplace is a big, amorphous concept,
rather like Websphere, which IBM itself seems unable to provide a
concise overview of.
Some old products have appeared under new names, which is
confusing, and Domino users and developers may feel they have been
marginalised at first.
Better bridges are being built with Domino and other IBM
technologies. The complexity should be hidden from users, most of
whom will welcome the opportunity to customise and de-clutter their
desktops. Users can also create their own Workplace applications
using XML-based templates.
How difficult is it to master?
A background in Lotus Notes or Domino and Websphere would
obviously be an advantage. Failing that, IBM says key development
skills are J2EE and the Eclipse integrated development
environment.
What systems does it run on?
Workplace is intended to be platform-independent. Key operating
systems are Linux and Windows.
What is coming up?
The latest releases of Collaboration Services and Managed Client
include improvements to document management and web conferencing,
better integration with Lotus Notes and Domino 7.0, and clustering
support for IBM's mid-range iSeries servers.
Rates of pay
Many skills are involved in Workplace. Developers with
J2EE,Websphere and Eclipse can expect to earn £25,000 to £40,000,
depending on seniority.
Training
IBM's Developerworks site is the best place to start when
looking for Workplace training, providing free guidance on how
existing skills can be applied and what new skills will be
needed.
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks