CityBlogz Design Studio / Blog

Here’s some press about the Blue Business Platform (a project that I was involved with for the past year and a half). To summarize:

IBM said the marketplace will offer pre-integrated products and services from IBM and independent software developers. Customers will be able to use the software they buy on premises or in the cloud.

IBM is working with Google to build a worldwide network of connected servers, an architecture sometimes referred to as a computing cloud, from which it plans to deliver software and services.

The online store will be organized geographically and also by industry. Customers will be able to purchase software or services in just four clicks, IBM said. The company plans to pilot the marketplace throughout 2008

Read more about this from various sources online:

• IBM To Launch Web-Based Application Market – InformationWeek
• Google, IBM Join Forces To Dominate Cloud Computing – InformationWeek
• IBM to Build Apps Marketplace for SMBs – PCWorld
• IBM launching a platform for SMB opportunity – IT Business

I can finally speak about the project that has completely taken over my life for the past year. Project Bluehouse or Blue Business Platform is the official codename in the press release. Essentially, “IBM Lotus Foundations is a new family of software servers currently planned to provide the essential software that companies with five to 500 employees need to run their business.”

Things are still being worked out, but I have already pitched the idea of integrating this server management piece with the iPhone (now that the iPhone SDK is officially out there).  Unfortunately, things at IBM go at a glacial pace, and I have yet to hear much about my idea coming to fruition. Well, here’s hoping they seriously consider it.

I had heard of a similar tip for the Domino Java APIs, but this is a new one for me. As far as I know, LotusScript objects do not suffer from memory leaks as its Java counterpart, but the following tip does seem to make sense. Read it here at Lotus Advisor.

Finally… here is an unbiased article called “The Architecture of WebSphere and Lotus Collaboration Together” that details how companies can leverage the strengths of both Lotus collaboration and IBM Websphere technologies in a combined solution. I recommend sending this article out to all the WebSphere bigots out there. I guess I’d send this out to all the Lotus bigots too.

Some WebSphere professionals, on the other hand, have a resistance not to the portal technology itself, necessarily, but to the collaborative features provided by the Lotus technologies. WebSphere pros need to recognize that collaboration, both on a group level and on an organizational level, has been the Lotus business since the company came into being. It makes sense for us to take advantage of their expertise in the collaborative arena and use the components included with WebSphere Portal.

Here’s one for the Lotus propaganda file: “A year ago Lotus finally came off the fence and articulated a clear vision for the future of the company, its existing software and, most importantly, a new set of products. The biggest concern at the time was the ability of Lotus to deliver on the promise of that vision quickly and effectively. A year on, Lotus has delivered on its promises. Lotus Workplace has been set firmly at the centre of the Lotus strategy. The challenge now is to complete the initial product set (and so maintain momentum) and then develop the wider vision for Workplace.” More…

For those of you who are interested in the latest security vulnerabilities in a variety
of computing platforms including Lotus Notes/Domino, here are a couple of good sites to bookmark.

• SecurityFocus Vulnerabilities Listing By Vendor If you are interested in Notes/Domino security vulnerabilities, just select “Lotus” in the vendor dropdown list and hit the Submit button.
• CERT Advisories CERT does have a good listing of advisories, but it is not as up-to-date as SecurityFocus. SecurityFocus does list a couple of vulnerabilities for the HTTP WebAdmin.nsf database.