Lotusphere: IBM unveils cloud-based LotusLive portfolio

IBM LotusLive will integrate with apps from LinkedIn, Salesforce.com and Skype

IBM has extended its Bluehouse social networking and collaboration project, now called LotusLive, to include new services and enhancements, such as email and file sharing capabilities.

The company has also integrated the application with offerings from Skype, LinkedIn and Salesforce.com.

IBM said at the annual Lotusphere conference in Orlando that its cloud-based portfolio of tools had been renamed LotusLive to take account of the additional offerings and the fact that it will be launched as a product in the first quarter.

"We believe that our open integrated platform will dramatically simplify and improve the way businesses interact with their partners and customers," said Bob Picciano, IBM Lotus Software general manager. "With this offering we are taking Lotus to more people, in more places, than ever before."

While Bluehouse had been pitched predominantly at the small to medium-sized enterprise market, LotusLive will be targeted at companies of all sizes. Customers will have a choice of different Lotus social software bundles according to their requirements.

The broadest offering, called LotusLive Engage, will include storing and sharing capabilities from Quickr, instant messaging and web conferencing capabilities from Sametime, Lotus Forms, content and profile capabilities from Connections, live chat functionality and email, although the latter has yet to be integrated, Picciano said.

The email capabilities will be derived from IBM's recent purchase of online messaging provider Outblaze, IBM said.

A LotusLive meeting environment will allow customers to add files from Notes in what IBM has described as "click to cloud", the ability to seamlessly link on-premise solutions with LotusLive services.

Other bundles will also be on offer, but Picciano said that IBM will "figure out what the customers want before we bring these out".

LotusLive Engage will be launched in IBM's first quarter, and pricing will be announced at the time of general availability.

The application integration with LinkedIn will allow LotusLive users to search their professional network, and then collaborate with contacts using the LotusLive services.

Integration with Salesforce customer relationship management applications will allow businesses to add collaborative capabilities to customer management processes.

Additionally, Skype voice and video will be integrated with LotusLive to allow customers to call Skype contacts from their LotusLive contacts.