In 2008, IBM is working hard to put a friendlier face on the Big Blue behemoth. After years of pushing WebSphere and other solutions geared toward enterprise-class accounts, IBM is finally emphasizing solutions for the rest of us. Look for IBM Lotus Foundations server, Bluehouse, and new Lenovo servers built on IBM technology.

IBM Reaches Out to SMEs

IBM Lotus Foundations: At Lotusphere 2008, IBM Lotus Software announced the intent to acquire Net Integration Technologies, Inc. (NITI) a Toronto-based firm that specializes in easy-to-deploy, self-healing office server technologies for the SME market. Net Integration’s core products utilize its Linux-based NITIX operating system.

Info-Tech reviewed the NITIX OS in 2006. We found the self-healing, setup-simplifying technology, called “autonomic computing,” took most of the headache out of sever setup. The half-hour setup claim did not seem an exaggeration.

Building on both the innovative operating system features and NITI’s existing deep integration with Lotus Domino, the Lotus Foundation series promises a number of SME-friendly software offerings that will also be offered as appliances.