LOTUSPHERE - What's in store for Notes/Domino

20.01.2006
The next version of IBM's Lotus Sametime real-time collaboration software will include capabilities that allow users to instantly connect with others around the world as part of online "social networking" communities.

The new Sametime functions are among the highlights expected at the 13th annual Lotusphere 2006 conference, which begins Sunday in Orlando, Fla. and runs through Thursday.

The new social networking tools have been used inside IBM for the last three years, said Ken Bisconti, vice president of product management for Lotus, and allow users to be part of online "communities" that are organized like newsgroups or listserves. That means users don't have to send an e-mail to a text-based listserve and wait for a reply; Instead, they'll be able to send an instant message (IM) to all other participating online members of the community, who can reply immediately.

Inside IBM, the feature is called SkillTap, though a name has not been chosen for the commercial product that will be released for use with Sametime later this year, Bisconti said. The new feature will run on top of the next version of Sametime and will include broadcast alerts that allow users to quickly reach participating members of the communities.

"We've found inside IBM that it's fostered thousands of communities" involved in a wide variety of subjects, including Linux, Bisconti said. "[Participants] see a question pop up and they can respond or help if they'd like."

IBM is also adding an application model to Sametime for building real-time applications, Bisconti said. The new framework will be built using the Eclipse open-source platform. That opens the Sametime infrastructure to thousands of independent software vendors so they can build real-time-enabled programs that work with the Lotus offerings.