Event
Summary
Lotus Development
Corporation, a division of IBM (NYSE: IBM), has announced a forthcoming product
that will serve as a knowledge manager for a company's Intranet, or for the
Internet. Nicknamed "Raven" the product will provide a portal from which users
can find information and applications on a given subject, locate experts on
a particular subject, and organize tasks and projects. The announcement, made
at Lotus' LotusWorld trade show by Lotus' President and CEO Joseph Papows, did
not specify a release date or give details about product functionality.
Market
Impact
There's no
arguing with Papows' contention that large companies are at a disadvantage in
the fast moving world of E-commerce. And Lotus, which IDG credits with a strong
market share lead of 41.6 percent of the groupware market over Microsoft's 34
percent, has the experience and ability to produce a tool that can help structure
information across the enterprise. Papows suggests that larger businesses have
the internal knowledge to be much more competitive in E-business, but are unable
to leverage their capabilities because of size. If Raven can help these hundred
ton gorillas launch themselves as successful E-commerce companies, it will be
a rare bird indeed.