IBM's Lotus Monday announced it is developing an XML-based data model and a rapid application development tool to help transform Domino from a self-contained platform to a set of J2EE-based collaborative building blocks.
Both technologies are key to supporting the evolution of modular collaboration components based on Domino and other Lotus software, says Beverly DeWitt, senior manager for new business development for Lotus.
The company has no current timetable to deliver the data model or development tool, and admits that development of component-based Lotus software is in its infancy.
Lotus' goal is to develop components that run on Java 2 Enterprise Edition platforms, most notably IBM's WebSphere, and can plug directly into Web-based business process applications such as customer relationship management.
Lotus Monday said at its annual Lotusphere conference in Orlando that it intends to fully embrace J2EE and IBM's WebSphere platform as the runtime environment for components built from the collaborative features found in Domino, such as e-mail, calendars and task lists.
The upcoming XML-based data model will combine with Web services interfaces, a collection of XML-based standard protocols, to create a common integration layer between Domino-based collaboration features and business process applications. DeWitt would only say that the model is currently under development.
Current Lotus software such as Domino.Doc, Discovery Server, Sametime, QuickPlace and Domino Workflow will use the model to present data.
The blending of collaboration components into applications is being described by Lotus and analysts alike as "contextual collaboration." What that means is that collaboration, such as instant messaging, can be accessed directly from an application without having to go to a separate interface or application for those features.
Lotus also is planning to build a RAD tool for J2EE, according to DeWitt. "Our heritage is in RAD," she says. The tool will plug into IBM's Eclipse, an open source framework for J2EE.
"If they can convince application developers to get off of LotusScript and get them to J2EE, that will be the rudder for success," says Scott Wenzel, a Notes administrator for a federal agency and the creator of several unofficial Lotus Web sites. "But they can't make it like it's a big break with the norm. It has to be evolutionary."
The Lotus strategy is so evolutionary that the company is using its annual Lotusphere conference to introduce users to its basic concepts. But with Microsoft attacking the same component-based strategy, there is little time to waste getting started.
DeWitt says enterprises should start focusing on skill development such as proficiency with J2EE, Java Server Pages (JSP), Web services and XML.
Lotus is including a JSP tag library in Domino 6, which should be released in August or September of this year. "That should be a head start in learning JSP tags," says DeWitt.
She says enterprises also should begin to align Domino developers with internal J2EE teams.
DeWitt says IT executives this year will begin to see Lotus become "more solutions-focused, not product-driven." She says changes in Lotus software will soak into the product set over time and will eventually transform all Lotus technology into a set of components for J2EE.
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