"Everyone can use the same software clients, regardless of the operating system," which provides greater interoperability, ease of use and easier deployments, he said.

As it has done in the past, IBM developed the new services through its internal use of the products over multiple operating systems, Jollans said. The internal IBM testing included running Lotus collaboration software products and other open-source applications on Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation, as well as on Windows and Macintosh computers.

"We've been battle-testing it inside IBM" for more than a year, he said.

Some of the products in the Open Client Offering include:

-- Lotus Notes e-mail and collaboration software.