IBM's Lotus Gets Fresh Legs

SAN FRANCISCO - IBM's(IBM) Lotus Notes was once the dominant software for corporate communications, until it was pummeled by Microsoft's(MSFT) desktop and communications software.

Now the Lotus brand is springing back to life.

Buried in IBM's recent earnings report were signs of a resurgence in Lotus Notes and its Domino 8 Server, which together make up the company's fully integrated email, messaging and collaboration suite. IBM acquired Lotus in the mid-1990s.

Lotus has taken a beating: Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner said recently that his company's Exchange email server, SharePoint collaboration software and Office products replaced 4.86 million Lotus users, or "seats," in the fiscal year just ended.

"Microsoft has a brand image that has put them ahead of IBM in the email space with Microsoft Exchange Outlook and -- in the move toward IP telephony communications -- with its Office Communications server and Office Communicator client," says IDC analyst Mark Levitt.

In late 2007 and early 2008, IBM added several collaboration features and capabilities to the Lotus family. And in June, it added a paid-support option for Symphony, its free desktop-productivity software that is Big Blue's answer to Microsoft's Office. Support is considered crucial to winning corporate accounts.

The work is paying off: Lotus scored a few big customers during its second quarter, including one of the Big 6 accounting-consulting firms, which bought the entire Lotus and Domino portfolio for 150,000 seats. The portfolio includes Sametime, a collaboration platform.

Another client deal with a financial institution in India is "the largest Asian customer we've had to date," adding 300,000 seats, said Bob Picciano, IBM general manager for Lotus and the Websphere product lines. That client is using Lotus in conjunction with Symphony.