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DQI Bureau
New Update

Brill: Betting big on iNotes Web Access Come October and a Web client from Lotus iNotes Web Access

will be unveiled in India. "Since its worldwide launch in July, the new

Lotus product has brought in over US $ 5 million additional revenue for the

company," informs Ed Brill, director, core infrastructure, marketing,

messaging and collaboration products, Lotus Development Corporation. According

to Brill, clients had for long been suggesting the need for such an integrated

collaborative environment. No wonder then, one of them–the US-based Wachovia

Bank–started using it within first few weeks of the worldwide launch. The

banking and the process manufacturing industries, says Brill, would be the key

segments using the product.

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Lotus iNotes Web Access aims at providing the functionality

of a desktop Notes client on a single template that talks to the server as well

as the web browser. This means that users can work with applications, email

off-line and send changes back to a central server at their convenience. It also

integrates with the company’s existing offerings like Lotus Sametime and

QuickPlace, enabling instant messaging, use of white boards for elaborate online

discussions and shared team workspaces.

"Unlike the traditional Lotus Notes that sits on your

desktop, we have tried to focus on achieving an ultra-intuitive user interface

which requires virtually no instructions in usage. A spell check, including

scientific dictionaries are available online" explains Brill.

Ed Brill’s Analysis of the Lotus brand

Strength

Enterprise viability, consistency in architecture and

cross platform functionality have ensured that users can run Lotus

products on a client of their choice

Weakness

Microsoft is a serious competitor with sizable user

mindshare. Asian markets have an inherent "MS mindset".

This makes it difficult for Lotus to capture fresh users

Opportunity 

  • Extend the market by offering productivity

    levels that mail users have not had before
  • Installed bases. Server consolidation will lead to lower

    costs and effective usage of bandwidth
Threats The ISP/ASP market has commoditized e-mail. We have to begin

with changing the mindset.
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In order to use the product offline, you need to copy it on

to your local machine. But then you will also have to limit your subscription

size according to free disc space that you have. To synchronize it and update

your files and mails, you would, however, just need to connect to the Net. The

product is primarily targeted at corporate mobile users including knowledge

workers who constantly access content rich messages as well as productivity

workers who access relatively simpler messages but in larger volumes.

"The product is suited for companies with tight IT

budgets as well as users who do not need a full-scale Notes client (airline

pilots, bank tellers, retail workers). These are the workers who will be

checking their corporate e-mail from Web cafes or the airport business centers.

They will be the workers who, with a URL, will be able to access company email

at home through their own ISPs," he says.

ISPs, ASPs and SMEs with limited IT resources are other

targets of this integrated collaborative environment. In India, the company

expects 80% of its iNotes revenues to come from the SME segment.

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Brill pegs the corresponding worldwide figure at 20% to 30%

explaining that the SME segment is smaller worldwide but still the fastest

growing. SMEs may not have dedicated IT resources for each employee. Companies

have responded saying they do not want to install anything on the desktop. There

are growing instances of small and mid-size companies with employees spread

across cities that require managing infrastructure.

With iNotes Web Access, administrators can maintain

applications from a central server location, without having to configure each

individual desktop. Investment in laptops is also reduced. "With roaming

user support, you do not need to install software at as many workstations and

this brings down costs. Besides, network compression ensures more utilization of

bandwidth-another precious commodity!" explains Brill.

Manjiri Kalghatgi in New

Delhi

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