IBM/Lotus Quickly Adopt Unified Product Strategy

ARMONK, N.Y., July 20, 1995 . . . Just two weeks after formally completing
their merger, IBM and Lotus Development Corp. today outlined a series of
strategic product decisions.  These include:

     o    adopting Lotus Notes as IBM's workgroup
          client and mail, messaging and groupware
          server platform;

     o    adopting Lotus SmartSuite as IBM's desktop suite; and

     o    adopting Lotus as IBM's brand name for
          PC application and workgroup software.

"Our product strategy is designed to leverage the complementary strengths
of IBM and Lotus to help customers improve the way they use and share
information," said John M. Thompson, senior vice president and Software
Group executive, IBM.

"We are adopting the Lotus brand for personal and workgroup applications
because of Lotus' proven ability to deliver innovative desktop software,
its leadership in integrated groupware and messaging, and its great brand
equity," Thompson added.

"We are committed to maintaining the openness of the Notes platform, and
intend to accelerate the growth of the industry that has formed around
Notes to the benefit of both customers and business partners."

"IBM's commitment to the Lotus brand, and Lotus' desktop and communications
products sends an important signal to the marketplace about how focused we
are on combining our strengths to meet the needs of current and future
customers," said Jim Manzi, senior vice president, IBM and Lotus CEO. 
"Our unique combination of end-user software expertise and scalable
enterprise systems experience has enabled us to very quickly address
complex brand, product and technology-integration issues. We are confident
that together we can enhance the way individuals, teams and entire
organizations get work done."

     The product decisions outlined today include:

 *   Lotus Notes, the leading client/server platform for
     developing and deploying groupware applications, is
     IBM's workgroup client, and the Notes server product
     family is IBM's mail, messaging and groupware
     server platform.

 -   Lotus Notes supports all major shipping operating
     systems, including IBM OS/2 Warp*, Microsoft Windows
     3.1, Windows NT, Apple Macintosh (client only) and four
     UNIX platforms: IBM AIX*, Sun Solaris, Hewlett-Packard's
     HP-UX and Santa Cruz Operation's OpenServer.  The Notes
     server is also available as a NetWare loadable module
     for the Novell environment.

 -   Plans are in place to incorporate IBM WorkGroup*
     function with Notes over the next year.  IBM will
     continue to support WorkGroup customers and will assist
     them in making the transition to Notes.

 *   Lotus SmartSuite, comprising 1-2-3**, Ami Pro** (soon
     to be Word Pro**), Freelance Graphics**, Approach**,
     Lotus Organizer** and ScreenCam**, is IBM's desktop
     suite.

 -   Separate versions of SmartSuite are currently available
     on OS/2 Warp and Windows 3.1.  New 32-bit versions of
     SmartSuite for OS/2 and Windows 95 are in development.

 -   Lotus' suite development team will evaluate technology
     from StarDivision GmbH., which IBM has licensed, for
     possible future inclusion in SmartSuite.

 *   cc:Mail*** is IBM's mail client.

     cc:Mail will continue to support its current
     shared-file server and will also operate in
     client/server mode with the upcoming Notes Release 4
     server.  In the future, cc:Mail will provide direct
     support for other mail providers, such as the Internet,
     allowing users a single offering for their mail needs.
     Customers seeking client/server-based integrated
     messaging and groupware capabilities will be encouraged
     to adopt the Notes Release 4 solution.  The mail
     capability in Notes Release 4 fully supports the
     cc:Mail user interface.

 -   IBM will continue to support its UltiMail* customers
     and transition plans will be developed to facilitate
     customers moving to cc:Mail.

The complementary nature of IBM's and Lotus' existing product lines will
allow them to offer solutions that benefit from the integration of Lotus'
desktop, groupware and client-level expertise with IBM's proven competence
in larger-scale, mission-critical systems.  Among the technologies that
will be integrated are relational database, contextual search, document
management, digital library, workflow, imaging and messaging.

Examples include:

 *   Lotus Organizer is IBM's personal information manager
     (PIM) and calendaring and scheduling client.
     Organizer's award-winning user interface and personal
     calendaring capabilities will be integrated with the
     enterprise scheduling capabilities of IBM WorkGroup,
     which also provides enhanced connectivity to existing
     IBM PROFS and OfficeVision customers.

 *   Lotus Approach is IBM's desktop database.  Approach
     will become the desktop link to DB2, using Lotus'
     PowerKey data access technology.

 *   Lotus Notes Document Imaging becomes IBM's desktop
     image client.  LN:DI will continue to offer customers
     a choice of back-end server offerings, which
     will now be augmented by IBM's ImagePlus* product line.

Prior to the merger, IBM and Lotus had created key development linkages as
well as several sales and marketing agreements throughout the world.
Examples include development of a LotusScript** extension that allows
Notes applications to access networks and information managed by IBM's
Message Queueing Series (MQSeries*) and Customer Information Control
System (CICS*) products, the Notes-enablement of IBM's ADSTAR Distributed
Storage Manager* (ADSM) product, and the delivery of Notes Express with
OS/2 Warp Connect. All activity pre-dating the merger continues.
 
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