"I don't think it's going to sweep the market," he said, but it will help companies that want to leverage their existing hardware and simplify their IT infrastructures. "It's about finding productivity and being able to manage heterogeneity."

Later this year, the Open Client will include new versions of e-mail and messaging, social software and team collaboration software that will ship with the upcoming Lotus Notes 8, Lotus Connections and Lotus Quickr applications, according to IBM. The IBM Open Client is available immediately, with pricing depending on customer requirements.