IBM Workplace
Encyclopedia
IBM Workplace was a brand of collaborative software
applications from IBM
's Lotus Software
division. It was intended to be the next generation of collaboration software that would work with IBM's Java EE-based WebSphere Portal
server software. Introduced in 2003, the brand was largely disbanded by 2007, with its core technologies and many of its products rebranded as Lotus or WebSphere
.
, IBM's annual conference for Lotus customers, IBM's Lotus division announced its Java EE-based "NextGen" initiative. This became the Workplace brand, which IBM first introduced at Lotusphere
2003. The first Workplace product was Workplace Messaging, a lightweight e-mail solution. More Workplace applications were introduced later, such as instant messaging and document management. In 2004, Workplace 2.0 was released, which could run inside of a desktop rich client as well as a web browser.
Because the goal of Workplace largely overlapped IBM's existing Lotus Notes and Domino
software, Notes and Domino customers became increasingly worried that Notes and Domino would either be discontinued or at best marginalized in favor of Workplace. To assuage this fear, IBM demonstrated in 2005 how Workplace and Notes/Domino products would be integrated with each other. IBM also started to include Lotus Notes and Domino within the "Workplace family."
However, by 2007, most Workplace-branded products were being either discontinued (such as Workplace Messaging) or rebranded as Lotus or WebSphere. Mike Rhodin, general manager of Lotus Software, said that Workplace was a way to shake up the Lotus team into creating innovative technologies, and now that technologies had been created, they were being folded back into the core brands. Lotus also heard that having the Workplace brand in addition to its other brands was confusing.
that was built on top of the Eclipse
Rich Client Platform
(RCP) 3.0, which itself is written in Java
. It provides tools to manage rich clients, such as synchronization so that clients can work with data offline, and provisioning so that servers can automatically push down the latest version of applications onto clients.
Workplace Client Technology has evolved into IBM Lotus Expeditor
.
such as e-mail
, calendaring and scheduling, awareness, instant messaging
, e-learning
, team spaces, Web conferencing
, and document and Web content management.
IBM ended support for Workplace Collaboration Services on September 30, 2009 . It has been superseded largely by Lotus-branded products, such as Notes, Domino
, Sametime
, Quickr
, and Connections
.
, OpenDocument
(ODF) and Microsoft Office
formats.
Workplace Managed Client introduced a collaboration tool called Activity Explorer. It lets teams of users manage projects via an object hierarchy, which groups together information objects (such as files, messages, and web links) that are related to an ongoing project and are shared among team members.
Workplace Managed Client is no longer being actively marketed. It has been superseded by Lotus Notes and Domino
. Activity Explorer functionality is now part of IBM Lotus Connections
.
.
Collaborative software
Collaborative software is computer software designed to help people involved in a common task achieve goals...
applications from IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
's Lotus Software
Lotus Software
Lotus Software is a software company with headquarters in Westford, Massachusetts...
division. It was intended to be the next generation of collaboration software that would work with IBM's Java EE-based WebSphere Portal
WebSphere Portal
IBM WebSphere Portal is a set of software tools that enables companies to build and manage web portals.According to a Gartner Research comparison of software for horizontal portals, WebSphere Portal software is a leader in that market, having delivered "significantproduct innovation," and being...
server software. Introduced in 2003, the brand was largely disbanded by 2007, with its core technologies and many of its products rebranded as Lotus or WebSphere
IBM WebSphere
IBM WebSphere refers to a brand of computer software products in the genre of enterprise software known as "application and integration middleware". These software products are used by end-users to create applications and integrate applications with other applications...
.
History
In 2002 at LotusphereLotusphere
Lotusphere is an annual conference hosted by Lotus Software .Except for the first conference, which took place in December 1993, Lotusphere is held in late January. It starts with a reception party on Sunday night, and continuing on through the closing session on Thursday afternoon...
, IBM's annual conference for Lotus customers, IBM's Lotus division announced its Java EE-based "NextGen" initiative. This became the Workplace brand, which IBM first introduced at Lotusphere
Lotusphere
Lotusphere is an annual conference hosted by Lotus Software .Except for the first conference, which took place in December 1993, Lotusphere is held in late January. It starts with a reception party on Sunday night, and continuing on through the closing session on Thursday afternoon...
2003. The first Workplace product was Workplace Messaging, a lightweight e-mail solution. More Workplace applications were introduced later, such as instant messaging and document management. In 2004, Workplace 2.0 was released, which could run inside of a desktop rich client as well as a web browser.
Because the goal of Workplace largely overlapped IBM's existing Lotus Notes and Domino
IBM Lotus Domino
Lotus Domino is an IBM server product that provides enterprise-grade e-mail, collaboration capabilities, and a custom application platform. Domino began life as Lotus Notes Server, the server component of Lotus Development Corporation's client-server messaging technology. It can be used as an...
software, Notes and Domino customers became increasingly worried that Notes and Domino would either be discontinued or at best marginalized in favor of Workplace. To assuage this fear, IBM demonstrated in 2005 how Workplace and Notes/Domino products would be integrated with each other. IBM also started to include Lotus Notes and Domino within the "Workplace family."
However, by 2007, most Workplace-branded products were being either discontinued (such as Workplace Messaging) or rebranded as Lotus or WebSphere. Mike Rhodin, general manager of Lotus Software, said that Workplace was a way to shake up the Lotus team into creating innovative technologies, and now that technologies had been created, they were being folded back into the core brands. Lotus also heard that having the Workplace brand in addition to its other brands was confusing.
Foundational Technologies
IBM Workplace Client Technology was an application platformPlatform (computing)
A computing platform includes some sort of hardware architecture and a software framework , where the combination allows software, particularly application software, to run...
that was built on top of the Eclipse
Eclipse (software)
Eclipse is a multi-language software development environment comprising an integrated development environment and an extensible plug-in system...
Rich Client Platform
Rich Client Platform
A rich client platform is software consisting of the following components:* A core , lifecycle manager* A standard bundling framework* A portable widget toolkit* File buffers, text handling, text editors...
(RCP) 3.0, which itself is written in Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
. It provides tools to manage rich clients, such as synchronization so that clients can work with data offline, and provisioning so that servers can automatically push down the latest version of applications onto clients.
Workplace Client Technology has evolved into IBM Lotus Expeditor
IBM Lotus Expeditor
IBM Lotus Expeditor is a software framework by IBM's Lotus Software division for the construction, integration, and deployment of "managed client applications", which are client applications that are deployed from, configured, and managed onto a desktop, usually by a remote server...
.
IBM Workplace Collaboration Services
IBM Workplace Collaboration Services is a single product that provided a set of communication and collaboration toolsCollaborative software
Collaborative software is computer software designed to help people involved in a common task achieve goals...
such as e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
, calendaring and scheduling, awareness, instant messaging
Instant messaging
Instant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...
, e-learning
E-learning
E-learning comprises all forms of electronically supported learning and teaching. The information and communication systems, whether networked learning or not, serve as specific media to implement the learning process...
, team spaces, Web conferencing
Web conferencing
Web conferencing refers to a service that allows conferencing events to be shared with remote locations. Most vendors also provide either a recorded copy of an event, or a means for a subscriber to record an event. The service allows information to be shared simultaneously, across geographically...
, and document and Web content management.
IBM ended support for Workplace Collaboration Services on September 30, 2009 . It has been superseded largely by Lotus-branded products, such as Notes, Domino
IBM Lotus Domino
Lotus Domino is an IBM server product that provides enterprise-grade e-mail, collaboration capabilities, and a custom application platform. Domino began life as Lotus Notes Server, the server component of Lotus Development Corporation's client-server messaging technology. It can be used as an...
, Sametime
IBM Lotus Sametime
IBM Sametime is a client–server application and middleware platform that provides real-time, unified communications and collaboration for enterprises. Those capabilities include presence information, enterprise instant messaging, web conferencing, community collaboration, and telephony capabilities...
, Quickr
IBM Lotus Quickr
IBM Lotus Quickr is social team collaboration software, used by teams of people to share content. Lotus Quickr works inside and outside firewalls.Lotus Quickr can be described as three things:...
, and Connections
IBM Lotus Connections
IBM Connections is a proprietary Web 2.0 social software application developed by the Lotus Software division of IBM. The goal of Lotus Connections is to empower companies to be more innovative and help them execute more quickly by using dynamic networks of co-workers, partners and customers...
.
IBM Workplace Managed Client
IBM Workplace Managed Client is a server-managed rich client for IBM Workplace Collaboration Services. It offers offline support for email, calendaring, scheduling, and document management. It also includes a plug-in for running Lotus Notes 7 applications, and a set of productivity tools for creating, editing, and sharing word processing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. The tools support StarOfficeStarOffice
StarOffice, known briefly as Oracle Open Office before its discontinuation in 2010, is a proprietary office suite. It was originally developed by StarDivision which was acquired by Sun Microsystems in 1999...
, OpenDocument
OpenDocument
The Open Document Format for Office Applications is an XML-based file format for representing electronic documents such as spreadsheets, charts, presentations and word processing documents....
(ODF) and Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
formats.
Workplace Managed Client introduced a collaboration tool called Activity Explorer. It lets teams of users manage projects via an object hierarchy, which groups together information objects (such as files, messages, and web links) that are related to an ongoing project and are shared among team members.
Workplace Managed Client is no longer being actively marketed. It has been superseded by Lotus Notes and Domino
IBM Lotus Domino
Lotus Domino is an IBM server product that provides enterprise-grade e-mail, collaboration capabilities, and a custom application platform. Domino began life as Lotus Notes Server, the server component of Lotus Development Corporation's client-server messaging technology. It can be used as an...
. Activity Explorer functionality is now part of IBM Lotus Connections
IBM Lotus Connections
IBM Connections is a proprietary Web 2.0 social software application developed by the Lotus Software division of IBM. The goal of Lotus Connections is to empower companies to be more innovative and help them execute more quickly by using dynamic networks of co-workers, partners and customers...
.
IBM Workplace Forms
IBM Workplace Forms was a suite of products for developing and delivering data-driven, XML-based electronic forms to end-users. The product is now known as IBM Lotus FormsIBM Lotus Forms
IBM Forms is a suite of products by IBM's Lotus Software division that interact to develop and deliver data-driven, XML-based electronic forms to end-users. IBM Forms consists of a server, designer, and client viewer that enable creation, deployment, and streamlining of forms-based processes...
.