Bluehouse

Infobox_Software
name = Bluehouse (Code Name)

| caption =
developer = IBM
latest_release_version = Beta
operating_system = Cross-platform
genre = Software As A Service, collaboration, web2.0
license = Subscription
website = [http://bluehouse.lotus.com Product Homepage]

"Bluehouse" (double quotes intentional) is the code name for a future Software As A Service offering from IBM.

First announced at LotusSphere 2008, IBM have created "Bluehouse" with Small and Medium Businesses (SMB) in mind as it increases its focus in what it considers to an area of significant growth opportunity. "Bluehouse" is referred to as "collaborative multi-tenancy".

At the centre of "Bluehouse" is a web conferencing capability, however, a number of other applications have been included. The Activities feature has a familiar look and feel to Lotus Connections and there are some other core functions such as Store And Share for uploading and sharing files and Chat which uses the Lotus Sametime client.

"Bluehouse" is currently in managed beta, which means that access is restricted to certain countries. Some companies have been selected to work more closely with IBM in defining the eventual content of the finished offering. IBM refers to these companies as Early Adopters. It is anticipated that "Bluehouse" will be open to the rest of the world sometime near the end of September 2008.

"Bluehouse" is currently planned for General Availability in late January 2009. In common with other Software As A Service offerings, “Bluehouse” will be subscription based.

References

*IBM Press Release,2008-01-21: [http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/23326.wss IBM Unveils Plans for Collaboration Software and Services for Small-and-Medium Sized Businesses]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4p2xG0ik0A “Don’t You Wish All Meetings Were Like This?”] YouTube video
* [http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081007-big-blue-goes-social-with-bluehouse-collaboration-platform.html "Big Blue goes social with Bluehouse collaboration platform "] Ars Technica article
* [http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Messaging-and-Collaboration/IBM-is-Closer-to-Building-Bluehouse-to-Compete-With-Cisco-Google-Microsoft/ "IBM Closer to Building Bluehouse to Compete with Cisco, Google, Microsoft Cloud Offerings"] eWeek.com Article

External links

* [http://bluehouse.lotus.com "Bluehouse" Homepage]