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InformationWeek.com October 2, 2000
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Lotus Software Lets Developers Create Portals

K-STATION KNOWLEDGE-MANAGEMENT offering integrates with online collaboration tools

By Diane Rezendes Khirallah

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    L Lotus Development Corp. last week introduced K-station, a portal-development platform that's the first offering in a new line of knowledge-management software collectively known as Raven.

    K-station lets developers drag and drop windows to create portals, says Scott Cooper, VP of Lotus' knowledge-management group. Companies can develop portals that link to Web pages and messaging systems such as Hotmail, Lotus Notes and Domino, and Microsoft Exchange 2000. K-station also integrates with Lotus' QuickPlace collaboration software, which lets workgroups set up a Web site to share documents and other project-related information.

    Cooper says K-station is "incredibly strategic" to Lotus' future. "Every business is doing a portal," he says. James Kobielus, an analyst with the Burton Group, expects large companies and application service providers to have the most use for K-station. The software is scheduled to be available in November; pricing is expected next month.

    But while K-station is considered part of the Raven knowledge-management line, it doesn't address Lotus' bigger goal: to provide a new breed of software that lets companies capture, share, and reuse the knowledge of its workforce. Such capabilities won't become available until Discovery Server, slated for shipment early next year.

    Discovery Server will use vector technology from IBM's research labs to run intelligent associations among data, so it can link any relevant documents across a network by content, authors, or readers. Discovery Server will incorporate "people profiling," meaning it will help users looking for information locate employees with knowledge on the given topics. Users can see if employees are online and available for instant messaging.

    Kobielus expects Discovery Server to help companies forge better customer relationships. Adds Kobielus, "It's essential for large companies to quickly identify who knows what and get questions answered in a hurry."

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