FUDBusters update from June 2003

When: May 20, 2003

What: IBM Lotus announces Workplace Messaging, melding DB2, WebSphere and the IBM directory into a clientless e-mail system.

FUDFactor: Workplace Messaging ushers in the dawn of on-demand messaging, granting all users access to enterprise applications.

FUDBust: Really, this is just Webmail. Many news sites are referring to the "deskless workforce" as if it's a new concept, but it's not. Since 1993, if you haven't had a PC to use all the time, you've been using IMAP or Webmail. Nobody wants to run Notes on their Palm or 486 laptop. A cheap, stripped-down Web client from Lotus is welcome, but will it cause more enterprises to choose Lotus over competing e-mail systems? Perhaps, as long as the price is lower than the competition's. But this isn't a revolutionary achievement.

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