Workplace comes of age
IBM has launched a number of new software solutions and products designed to help customers accelerate their migration from traditional PC-centric computing deployments to standards-based, network-centric workplaces. The company says its new IBM Workplace products and solutions are accessible to companies of almost any size (small businesses to large corporations) and any vertical industry (such as retail, automotive, banking). The new offerings are intended to help organizations transform both their core technology infrastructure, as well as their key business processes, and extend the reach of their existing applications in a unified, roles-based IBM Workplace environment.
New Workplace offerings include:
IBM Workplace Services Express V2.0 is a new software solution based on a Workplace model designed for the small and midsized organizations and departments in large enterprises. The software includes team collaboration, document management, Web forms, task lists, portal services and a flexible templates-based model for creating composite services to speed implementation. Services Express also provides direct access to the user's existing applications and data, as well as e-mail, calendar, address book and a range of collaboration tools including integrated instant messaging.
IBM WebSphere Portal 5.1 is said to increase the business value of portal deployments. WebSphere can help employees and trading partners make faster decisions and improve their productivity by delivering the unique capability of linking business processes with the portal experience via an orchestrated workflow. With support for virtual portals, the value of WebSphere Portal can be quickly delivered to new communities at a lower cost. A new integrated, limited use version of Lotus Workplace Web Content Management is also included. As employees contribute and add value to existing intellectual capital via WebSphere Portal, enhanced search and document management technology now allows portal users to rapidly respond to customer requests and market opportunities.
IBM Lotus Web Conferencing Service integrates audio and Web conferencing services into a seamless experience designed to enhance the productivity and business value of Web conferences. The service will be available on demand from IBM and will be offered through pay-per-use and subscription usage plans. IBM Lotus Web Conferencing Service is the latest addition to IBM's software-as-a-service portfolio.