Lotus beefs up document management offering

Lotus has released Domino.Doc 2.0, the latest version of its Web-based document collaboration software which sits on Lotus Domino infrastructure.

The updated product - which European users should be able to buy from Lotus business partners by the end of June - will allow companies to work on documents from multiple sites around the world. Documents can be replicated on several servers, yet kept completely synchronised. Scott Cooper, Lotus' general manager of Imaging and Document Management Products, said Domino.Doc 2.0 represents "a step forward in terms of functionality" and should be a major revenue source for the IBM subsidiary.

Already major companies such as Procter & Gamble, GM, and Texas Instruments can count tens of thousands of Domino.Doc seats.
In Europe, Kraft Jacobs Suchard (KJS) has rolled out Domino.Doc across 60 sites. KJS IS manager Constantin Konstantinidis explained: "Users check out documents from their corresponding file cabinets and binders, using the interface which is most comfortable to them - a Lotus Notes client or a Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer browser. When users are done reading, reviewing or updating the documents, they simply check them back in for use by their colleagues."

Domino.Doc 2.0 pricing starts at $9,500 for one to four processor servers and $19 per client. Lotus' Cooper admitted most sales of Domino.Doc have been to existing Lotus Notes customers. "They were the low-hanging fruit," he said, "but we've found document management is starting to become a tie-breaker when we're in a battle with Microsoft."