Preface

1. Lotusphere 2006, the premier event for developers, administrators, IT and business professionals looking for collaborative software and solutions. was a rousing success! More than six thousand attendees gathered in Orlando to hear all the latest news, see innovative demos, and network with colleagues from around the world.

2. Preface Enclosed are selected presentations from Lotusphere 2006. The excerpts include the use of the Eclipse platform as a rich client, integration of collaboration tools based on presence and groups, the use of the Websphere portal, and the user interfaces selected for the various “tools.”

3. The Future Is in Sight: At Lotusphere, IBM lays out collaboration roadmap for industry to follow Let’s face it: The Lotus community has defined collaboration,” said Mike Rhodin, general manger of IBM’s Workplace, Portal and Collaboration business, in his opening remarks to the 6000+ attendees at Lotusphere 2006 in Orlando, Florida. “You were the early adopters, and today the world reaps the benefit of your foresight. We draw power from the momentum we’ve generated as a community. And we continue to lay a path for our competitors to follow.” The entire IBM Lotus’ community’s continual pioneering leadership in collaboration was a theme Rhodin visited again and again in his keynote speech. And he gave a very vivid example of how that leadership has transformed, and will continue to transform, the way people do business. Driving the evolution of ‘real-time business’ Rhodin introduced the next evolution in collaboration as real-time business – the convergence, already underway, of real-time collaboration technologies such as instant messaging, VoIP, audio and video conferencing and more. That evolution began, he said,

4. thanks to the community of IBM Lotus developers, customers and partners. “Seven years ago, when Sametime was launched, this community pioneered the potential of real-time technology within the enterprise,” Rhodin said. “Together, we created the corporate real-time market. We gave you innovative technology, and you were the first to adapt to a new way of working – you were the first who saw the value and deployed the technology.” Today, the business impact and business value of instant messaging, and of other real-time collaboration technology, are indisputable. “There are now close to 16 million Sametime users, plus untold millions of people using awareness capability in Notes applications around the world, solving business problems,” said Rhodin. “Real-time technology has helped flatten the world by eliminating time and space barriers between people, which has profoundly changed how we all do business. “And it’s clear that what started as real-time communication is expanding into real-time business. It’s the power of collaborative knowledge. It’s the power of pervasive methods of connecting people through any device and any application. It’s the power of capturing the knowledge within your organization and capitalizing on your rich intellectual property.” Openly embracing human nature Real-time business won’t be about forcing people to conform to technology. It will be about technology that embraces “the social, creative and entrepreneurial nature of humans, and extending it,” said Rhodin. 2

5. Because people are naturally social, real-time business innovations will give them new ways to connect, form groups and teams, and share information. Because people learn gradually based on what they already know, real-time innovations will build on existing technologies and skills. Because now more than ever people need to multi-task, real-time innovations will leverage service oriented architectures that can assemble just the information they need, from a variety of sources, into a single environment where they can get all their tasks done in a natural and efficient way. And because people don’t like to be told what to do – because they want choices – real-time business technologies must be, and will be, based on open standards. “Openness is initially counter-intuitive to many in business,” said Rhodin. “But once you embrace it, openness is the only model that makes sense. True innovation involves embracing possibilities. True innovation involves empowering decisions, not limiting choice.” Everyone – even competitors – invited to follow Rhodin extended an invitation to “leave the past and look toward tomorrow” to customers, to developers, to partners, and even to competitors – more than a few of whom had made the trip to Lotusphere. “I’ve been told that many of our competitors are in the audience,” Rhodin said 3

6. with a smile. “Welcome! It’s flattering that you’re here to listen and learn. After all, when your primary competitor talks about you in their events and marketing campaigns, and is constantly declaring your demise in private conversations, that’s a sure sign you’re on to something!” “It’s a great time to be at Lotus,” he added. “The momentum, and where we are heading, is exciting. Indeed, the future is insight.” 4