Led by Business-Ready Social Software, IBM Kicks Off Lotusphere 2007

(NYSE: IBM) today kicked off Lotusphere 2007 (www.ibm.com/lotus/lotusphere), a five-day conference with nearly 7,000 attendees and a set of announcements that dramatically expands Lotus' collaboration portfolio. The main announcements include:

• IBM Lotus Connections -- the industry's first business-ready social software platform
  
• IBM Lotus Quickr -- a new Web 2.0 collaborative content platform offering
  
• IBM Lotus Sametime 7.5.1 -- featuring expanded unified communications capabilities and increased interoperability with Microsoft software.

In addition, IBM will demonstrate IBM Lotus Notes and Domino 8 and announce the product's open beta program starting this February. The new Lotus Notes client includes major upgrades to core applications and expanded integration with the new collaboration tools announced today.
New to Lotusphere this year is the introduction of a Lotusphere Complex in Second Life, marking the first time IBM has run a customer conference simultaneously in both the real and virtual worlds. By visiting the Lotusphere Complex in Second Life (http://slurl.com/secondlife/ibm%209/34/58/23/ ) -- which IBM will launch on Tuesday, January 23 -- avatars can interact with Lotus experts, learn about software solutions, and experience Lotusphere from wherever they are.

More traditional conference components include more than 250 Break-out Sessions, including Hands-on Labs and Customer Solutions Panels; a Business Partner Product Showcase with nearly 200 solutions built on IBM Lotus technologies; and a Business Development Day pre-conference program for IBM Business Partners, delivering advanced information on market opportunities, products, strategies, and business skills.

"Lotus is redefining and delivering the collaborative capabilities that agile and effective businesses need," said Michael Rhodin, general manager, IBM Lotus. "Enterprise-ready social software, portals, email, integrated document collaboration, and unified communications are all strongly linked elements of Lotus' open software portfolio."

For more information on IBM's activities at Lotusphere 2007, please access the company's online press kit at: www.ibm.com/press/lotusphere2007