IBM revamps Sametime package

IBM Sametime switching from Domino platform to J2EE middleware

By John Fontana, Network World
August 17, 2006 05:45 PM ET

IBM/Lotus says the next release - Version 7.5 - of its Sametime real-time collaboration server will be the last one that uses Domino for its underlying platform components. Sametime relies on a platform to provide its directory, data and security model, and through Version 7.5, that platform has been Domino. The next version will run on standards-based middleware.

IBM announced in January it was developing a Sametime Linux client based on its Eclipse framework, and a Linux desktop client for Sametime is set to be released this month as part of Sametime 7.5. The company says it will release in the first half of 2007 a yet-to-be-named version of Sametime whose platform will be based on components of WebSphere, IBM's DB2 database and the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. The new version will align with IBM's service-oriented architecture and Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition (J2EE) middleware infrastructure. It will be the first version to run on Linux and will give IBM a real-time client and server that support the open source operating system.

Users won't have to build a full J2EE, multitier environment, IBM officials say; instead, the Sametime install routine will run as usual and load only the WebSphere and DB2 components that support the server.

"The benefits of having the IBM standards architecture under this are great in terms of support for [the Tivoli management platform] and exploiting the work of DB2 and WebSphere," says Art Fontaine, senior offering manager for IBM/Lotus. "Once we get to that next evolution of the back end, we have opportunities to start moving in different directions."

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The move also dovetails with IBM's developing Workplace strategy, a set of J2EE-based components that add collaboration features to WebSphere middleware. "When you say something like, this is the last Domino version of Sametime, I kind of am queasy, but at the same time that is a fact," Fontaine says. "But we have really good instant messaging that you see in Sametime 7.5 and that is still hooked into Domino, and all those things will carry forward to the J2EE environment."

He says it is easier to develop cross-platform versions that offer alternatives to Windows [with a platform based on] WebSphere middleware. Even though IBM has a version of Domino that runs on Linux, it decided to work on Linux certification of Sametime's e-meeting components on the J2EE architecture rather than on Domino.

IBM's moves to offer platform alternatives come at a time when rival Microsoft is developing its own real-time communications platform built around Office and Office Live Communications Server, which includes instant messaging and VoIP capabilities. IBM/Lotus has been building out its real-time platform and trying to negate any advantages Microsoft may have. The company is offering presence and Web conferencing integration into Outlook and Office applications through the Sametime 7.5 client Sametime pricing will be unchanged, at $55 per license, IBM says.

IBM/Lotus has been busy building enhancements to its Sametime platform, which was the first enterprise-class instant messaging platform and, experts say, was in need of an overhaul. Here is a look at the ongoing work with Sametime.

Dates and development	Description	Availability
August 2006: IBM unveils architectural changes for Sametime.	Domino out, WebSphere/Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition in as underlying platform.	Client ships before end of this month; server ships early next year.
June 2006: Client upgrades.	Supports Microsoft Office clients and third-party mobile devices.	Later this year or early 2007.
March 2006: VoIP integration.	Global Services Division plug-in integrates Sametime with Cisco VoIP gear.	Later this month.
January 2006: Integration with AOL, Yahoo, Google.	IBM using new Real Time Collaboration Gateway to support integration.	Available.
January 2006: Social networking plug-ins unveiled.	Plug-ins include search for experts, polling and instant discussion groups.	Delivery schedule has not been set.