Lotus Notes Coming To iPhone

Enterprise users of IBM's e-mail program may have reason to cheer as early as next week. According to the Associated Press, IBM will be releasing a version of Lotus Notes e-mail for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Hooah! Can Apple take down RIM?If you're a mobile professional who's held off on purchasing an iPhone because it won't work with your corporate e-mail system, there may be one less reason for you to keep holding out. The AP is reporting that IBM is set to make Lotus Notes available to the iPhone at its Lotusphere conference in Orlando next week. Of course, some terms and conditions apply.

First, your enterprise has to have a Lotus Domino server to support the application. Existing users of Lotus Notes Web-access system will be able to use the iPhone version for free with their current license. New users will have to pay $39 per year for the Lotus license. Not a bad deal at all.

IBM also is releasing its Symphony productivity suite for Apple computers. Symphony, similar to Google Apps, includes a word processor, presentation application, and spreadsheet program.

If you think these new Apple-compatible applications are indicative of a new love-fest between Big Blue and the big Mac, you might want to remember that Apple used IBM's PowerPC chips in its computers for a long time. It appears that Apple's move to Intel processors didn't sour the relationship between the two. IBM spokesperson Mike Azzi said the two companies "have a lot in common. We're going to cross-pollinate."

I can only imagine that this is going to make a lot of enterprise users very happy, and create more headaches for IT admins as employees drag the iPhone in and demand it be supported for e-mail. However, this new set of software will likely not put a dent in RIM's enterprise dominance any time in the near future.