TechWeb has an article that asks the question, is Lotus Notes and Domino R5 worth the migration pain? The answer seems to be migrating can be a massive project, but the payoff could be huge, since R5 requires less server capacity and greater Web support gives developers more tools to create Web applications and gives end users greater control over the interface.

SearchDomino has an article on sitegarden/xml, a browser-based, document-oriented content management system used to create Domino Web sites in a news, magazine, or informational format.

Today at Solutions 2000, The IBM Technical Developer Conference, IBM and Lotus Development Corp. announced the availability of a new IBM WebSphere/Lotus Domino bundle, designed to make it quicker and easier for organizations to build collaborative Web solutions. Also announced was a WebSphere/Domino "Getting Started" offering that delivers setup and configuration services.

According to the press release, "The new bundle combines the highly transactive capabilities of the WebSphere Application Server, Advanced Edition, with the collaborative capabilities of Lotus Domino, giving organizations a foundation on which to build powerful B2B commerce, customer service and supply-chain applications… By delivering WebSphere and Domino in a single offering, IBM and Lotus have shortened the procurement and delivery cycle for organizations looking to leverage the capabilities of both technologies."

At the time of publication, the official press release was not yet available online, but it should be available soon from the Lotus home page.

SearchDomino has an article on SpeechMail from Vocalis Group plc. According to the article, the technology lets users listen to and manage email over the telephone. The SpeechMail server downloads the mail header from any pop3 or imap4 compatible mail server, processes it through a speech engine, and reads the information over the phone.

An article in CIO details how R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co. performed a massive global migration to Notes email. Previously, the company’s 18,000 users had been using a dozen different email solutions but chose Notes, anticipating the need for its collaborative and groupware features.

DominoPro has an article saying Notes customers have no need for concern about the future of the Notes client just because Lotus introduced some new client alternatives to compete with Microsoft’s email products. Sasha Willoughby, worldwide technical marketing manager for the Notes client family, is quoted as saying, "Not only is Notes here to stay, but it’s still being enhanced. The client family is about enhancing Domino and extending it to a new user base, and helping existing customers with heterogeneous environments in managing those or migrating clients."

In the second article in a new series of tips for using Lotus technologies, Lotus gives some pointers on conducting a successful Sametime online meeting.

Midrange Systems reports Trend Micro Inc. announced that its anti-virus solution for Lotus Notes, ScanMail v2.0, has earned the ICSA Certification for Notes by the Anti-Virus Product Developers Consortium. According to the article, ScanMail for Lotus Notes provides the only anti-virus support for Lotus Domino on Windows NT, AS/400, and S/390 IBM platforms, AIX, and Sun Solaris. The program detects and removes viruses hidden in databases and attachments before they can reach the desktop.

PalmPower is in the top 2% in terms of popularity of all sites on the Internet and DominoPower in the top 10%. This is according to WebsMostLinked, an independent rating system that ranks all of the domains on the Internet by their popularity rating. Popularity is a factor of the number of links pointing to the domain on other Web pages. And we’re in the top 2%. Yowzah!

Ives Development, Inc. has announced the opening of a new office in Yokohama, Japan. According to Nigel Cheshire, CEO of Ives Development, "Japan is a major part of our worldwide strategy, and with the opening of the office, we can now offer the same support to the Japanese market that we offer through our offices in the United States and the United Kingdom."