What is it?
IBM's Lotus Domino and Notes have always been essentially
collaboration software.
IBM describes Notes as an "integrated desktop client option for
accessing business e-mail, calendars and applications on an IBM
Lotus Domino server".
From the outset, the products have been customisable, allowing
users to build their own applications or extend the pre-built
functionality. Domino functions as an application and web server,
as well as a collaboration server supporting calendaring, meetings
and shared documents.
IBM unveiled major updates to Notes in January this year. The
forthcoming
Notes 8 and its associated products will all be based on the
Eclipse open source software framework.
Analyst firm Gartner says of the software, "Combined with the
recently added representational state transfer application
programming interfaces, Atom syndication capabilities and
'mashability', these concepts serve as a strategic architecture for
all future Lotus products."
IBM is also introducing Lotus Quickr, a Web 2.0-based product
for collaborative document management and team support.
Where did it originate?
Notes has its origins in the University of Illinois's Plato
Notes, and in DECNotes. The PC version was bought by Lotus,
supplier of the 123 spreadsheet. The first release was in 1989, but
10,000 copies had already been bought by professional services firm
Price Waterhouse before its release.
IBM took over Lotus in 1995. Domino appeared with Notes 4.5 in
1996, transforming it into an interactive web applications
server.
What's it for?
Domino covers a large and growing family of products, with its
uses ranging from general messaging and collaboration to
specialised document management.
Supported products include
Collaboration Express, Enterprise Server, Messaging Server,
Domino Designer, Document Manager, Web Access,
Quickr
and wireless access product Lotus Domino Everyplace.
Since Notes/Domino 7 was released in 2005, IBM's DB2 has been
supported as a back-end database.
Alongside the LotusScript application development language, Java
and Javascript can also be used, and there is a Domino XML (DXML)
language. There are also toolkits for Java, C and C++.
What makes it special?
Replication was built into the earliest versions of Notes and
Domino, supporting not only single-site teams, but virtual teams
working remotely and across time zones.
How difficult is it to master?
There are many modules on the route to Domino accreditation, and
most of them are expensive, so beginners should choose carefully,
building on existing development, messaging or administration
skills.
IBM is particularly keen to lure users away from Microsoft
Exchange.
Where is it used?
Lotus Domino and Notes hold a 20% share of the worldwide
messaging market, according to a survey by Radicati Group.
It has a very broad user base, being used in the public sector,
in areas such as education, and in the private sector, in areas
such as petrochemicals.
There is also a thriving community of software houses developing
applications for Domino and Notes.
What systems does it run on?
IBM's own platforms and Linux, Unix, Windows and Mac OS X.
What's coming up?
IBM Lotus Notes and Domino 8 are scheduled to be released in
late 2007.
Training
IBM provides classroom and self-paced training in Lotus
development,
which can be purchased online. Some free resources are
available on the
Developerworks site.
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