ORLANDO, Fla. - 15 Jan 2001: IBM's Lotus Development Corp. today unveiled its powerful and innovative Lotus Discovery Server, an advanced data search and expertise location solution designed to help customers maintain and grow their knowledge capital. When the solution is combined with the robust portal capabilities of the recently released Lotus K-station knowledge portal, they create the ground-breaking Lotus Knowledge Discovery System. Customers and business partners including Philips International, Shearman & Sterling and Cap Gemini Ernst and Young Consulting have already experienced the ability of Lotus' newest knowledge management platform.
"Lotus has been at the forefront of the software marketplace for many years, developing innovative solutions to meet customer needs in this increasingly competitive, knowledge-driven era," said Scott Cooper, vice president of knowledge management, Lotus Development Corp. "Today's
unveiling of the first-of-its-kind knowledge server is yet another significant milestone for Lotus and the industry at large. We believe the combination of robust data search and automated expertise location is a key differentiator for Lotus and are we committed to delivering the innovative tools and
solutions companies need to manage their knowledge capital effectively."
Customers and Business Partners Embrace Lotus Knowledge Discovery System
During the beta roll-out of the Lotus Discovery Server and other core components within the Knowledge Discovery System, Lotus received enthusiastic feedback from hundreds of customers and business partners involved in the program, including CSG Systems, Inc., St. Paul Reinsurance, dotNSF, Inc., Herman Miller, Candescent, Knowledge Management Ltd., NetSetGo, Hewitt Associates, Collaborative Learning Network, eGain, Bayer, Inc. and many more.
Among those looking to implement the Lotus Discovery Server is Shearman & Sterling, one of the top five global law firms. "We need to compete with firms that have been using KM for years and Lotus gave us the tools we were looking for when no one else could," said Eugene Stein, CIO of Shearman & Sterling. "The ability of the Lotus Discovery Server to store previous projects and valuable components of the decision-making process, has prevented us from 'reinventing the wheel' for each new project. By minimizing burdensome, time-consuming processes, we are able to respond to clients' needs more quickly and efficiently."
Philips International, a global electronics manufacturer, is yet another customer to standardize on Lotus' KM products. (See accompanying release entitled, "Philips International Implements Lotus Collaboration and Knowledge Management Solutions" 1/15/01.)
"We needed to implement a single, integrated infrastructure that would enable our more than 600 sites to collaborate more effectively in the increasingly competitive e-business economy," said Frank Butstraen, vice president of corporate IT for Philips International. "We chose to utilize the best-of-breed technologies Lotus consistently offers the marketplace, which will enable us to solve everyday business problems more efficiently and cost effectively."
"Lotus has been an early adopter and influencer in the knowledge management space for some time and we are excited about the opportunities and advantages its technology will bring to our clients," said Steve Haggerty, senior technologist, Cap Gemini, Ernst & Young. "The Knowledge Discovery System's integrated approach to knowledge management and its ability to automate many of the key daily business processes is a true differentiator for Lotus. We are impressed with the system's advanced capabilities, especially with people affinities, and believe this product could significantly impact the knowledge management marketplace and provide our customers with a competitive advantage."
Lotus Discovery Server Delivers Ground-Breaking Data Search and Expertise Location
The Lotus Discovery Server, a critical component of the Knowledge Discovery System, is the most comprehensive knowledge server currently available for today's e-business users. Through advanced Metrics Analysis technology, the server uncovers and displays the link between people, content and topics helping to ensure that all the relevant knowledge and experiences of an organization are readily available for the execution of related tasks and projects.
Today, capabilities such as Lotus' expertise location are quickly becoming valuable strategic weapons for companies in their quest to maximize assets, intellectual capital and market expertise to gain a competitive advantage. The Lotus Discovery Server is based on industry standard technology to allow customers the flexibility to leverage their existing investments while taking advantage of best-of-breed knowledge management solutions. In addition, there are native capabilities that allow the server to help maximize current investments in Lotus and IBM knowledge management solutions.
Lotus K-station, the second critical component of the Lotus Knowledge Discovery System, is a next generation enterprise portal for today's e-business activity-oriented user. It is designed to provide customers with an easily personalized single point of access for retrieving critical information and collaborating with others both inside and outside the organization. Both products are now fully integrated and can be used in unison or as individual solutions.
An independent assessment of the Lotus Knowledge Discovery System was conducted by Doculabs, a leading industry analyst firm providing research and advisory services. "The Lotus Knowledge Discovery System combines two innovative technologies to create the most robust and comprehensive knowledge management solution available in this space to date," said Joe Fenner, area network director of Doculabs. "Together, these products offer enterprise customers advanced capabilities for searching documents and locating expertise, providing them with new, limitless opportunities to grow and maintain their knowledge capital."
Today, Lotus is also announcing several major new partnerships with industry leading content providers including Hoover's Inc., iSyndicate, ScreamingMedia and Factiva. These companies' products will enhance the user experience by integrating premium content and industry news into the search capabilities of the Knowledge Discovery System. Lotus is working closely with these partners to deliver the most comprehensive business content available to its customers.
Availability, Pricing and System Requirements
Lotus K-station is currently available worldwide. Current pricing is $120 per user with discounts for multiple users. Education pricing is available as well. The Lotus Discovery Server will ship in the first quarter of 2001 as part of the overall Knowledge Discovery System.
Pricing for the complete Knowledge Discovery System is $395 per user with discounts for multiple users. The Lotus Discovery Server currently operates on Microsoft Windows NT (SP6a) or Microsoft Windows 2000. Additional platform support will follow. The client requirement is Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 and above or the Lotus Notes Release 5 (R5) client, a server with a 10 GB HD, 384 MB of RAM, and a Pentium II 500 MHz processor or above.
The Lotus Discovery Server will be available in Global English, Korean, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, simplified Chinese, Taiwanese Chinese and Japanese.
For more information or to purchase products, please visit Lotus' website at www.lotus.com/km or call 1-800-57-LOTUS.
Contact(s) information
Colleen Tarry
Lotus Public Relations
(617) 693-1778
colleen_tarry@lotus.com
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