The IBM Lotus Foundations appliance has everything a customer needs toquickly set up a reliable IT infrastructure. The software uses the IBMLotus Notes/Domino collaboration platform to enable employees to create,share and print Lotus Symphony documents, and work with email and calendarfunctions. Its automated design -- self-configuring, self-healing, andself-managing daily systems operations -- eliminates the need for routinemaintenance and helps to ensure that critical data is protected through anintegrated disk backup technology.

"For the first time, customers and partners have access to an all-in-oneappliance where both the hardware and software are sourced by a singlevendor," said Kevin Cavanaugh, vice president, IBM Lotus Software. "Onesource to deal with makes life a lot easier. The appliance is a completesystem, and it's designed to require zero on-site IT support. All acustomer needs to get started is a power outlet and an Internetconnection."

The Lotus Foundations appliance will be generally available in December.

VMware Software Supports Windows

IBM is also announcing a pilot with VMware, which will provide support toIBM Lotus Foundations users who run Windows and are licensed to runWindows-based applications. Lotus Foundations customers will benefit from running Windows on a virtual machine on IBM Lotus Foundations. Even if the Windows operating system crashes, the business can still access the corecapabilities of Lotus Foundations without rebooting. Lotus Foundationsoperations are designed to continue uninterrupted.

Business partners also benefit as they no longer need to visit theircustomers onsite to diagnose Windows system crashes. Lotus Foundationsusers can sign up for the VMware pilot at:https://www-304.ibm.com/software/earlyprograms/surveys/cust/nomination.wss?id=622.

The software technology in IBM Lotus Foundations is built on a 100 megabyteLinux kernel, compact enough to be stored on a solid state chip. Thesystem starts up at the chip level, so in the unlikely event that both harddrives fail, IBM Lotus Foundations will still boot up with network,firewall, virtual private network (VPN), user accounts and other keyservices completely operational.

"The ability to remotely access and administrate my client accounts, evenif their systems go down, is essential," said Rick Kane of OnsiteTechnology, Inc., an IBM Lotus Foundations Business Partner. "I don't haveto spend money to travel for a site visit and my customers don't experiencethe cost or hassle of significant downtime. And in today's economicclimate, that can be the difference in keeping the lights on."

This configuration addresses the headaches that small- and medium-sizedbusinesses have dealt with from traditional IT solutions, such as MicrosoftSmall Business Server and the subsequent security patches, emergency fixesand operating system upgrades. IBM Lotus Foundations eliminates "patchmanagement" and the lengthy downtime and labor associated with upgrades.When an update is available, the system downloads the latest Linuxoperating system in a matter of minutes. Even major upgrades require asingle click. There is no need for an on-site IT support visit or planningtools. The process is also completely reversible.

"We've always viewed computer systems as a 'necessary evil,'" said GregBruce, chief operating officer of Hester Group. "They're essential for ourbusiness, but there's always something to be fixed or updated. And itseems that every month, we have to buy or install something new. IBM LotusFoundations is different. We get everything in one package and there's nomaintenance. Our local partner plugged it in, and it just works."

IBM Lotus Foundations simplifies and improves the backup and recoveryprocess through a single "system restore button" on the new IBM LotusFoundations appliance. In the event of a complete system failure, merelypressing the "system restore" button on the appliance recovers corefunctions. At the same time, the system automatically performs back-upsas often as every 15 minutes, providing continuous data protection. Withreplaceable primary and secondary drives, a back-up solution is always athand.

IBM Lotus Foundations provides customers with collaboration technology totake advantage of the latest social networking tools, while enabling theirbusiness to grow without making additional IT investments. The appliancecan accommodate up to 500 users, so as a business expands to 75, or 300users, there is no need to upgrade to more expensive and complex products,which often require the purchase of additional hardware.

IBM Lotus Foundations also offers a range of software applications toaddress business challenges. On November 21, the IBM Smart BusinessDevelopers' Kit will become generally available, enabling independentsoftware vendors (ISVs) to easily package and sell Lotus Dominoapplications to small- and medium-sized businesses. This will open newmarkets for the developers and give SMB customers a host of new Dominoapplications to better run their businesses.

Business partners that use the Developers Kit can simply point to anexisting application on a Domino server and the tool will combine thenecessary files into a "single-click" installation package. Theapplications can be deployed into environments as separate packages orpreloaded by the business partner, an important feature since many smallercompanies don't have on-site IT support.

"The toolkit is well thought out and well executed," said Richard Gill,president and founder of Gill and Piette, an IBM Advanced Business Partnerfocusing on SMB Lotus Notes development. "It does exactly what you expectit to -- it's intuitive and it's easy. With the Kit, IBM is effectivelygiving us the ability to reach a new customer set without having to makeany additional time or dollar investments. In today's business climate, abusiness partner couldn't ask for more."

For more information about IBM Lotus Foundations, visitwww.ibm.com/lotus/foundations or www.lotusfoundations.com.

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Contact:Mike Azzi+1-914-766-1561azzi@us.ibm.com