End of Service/End of Life (EOS/EOL) Lotus Notes/Domino R5.x [updated]

Kategorie: Notes/Domino R5

http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=463&context=SSKTMJ&dcÖ00&uid=swg21218278&loc=en_US&cs=UTF-8&lang=all&rss=ct463lotus

Date	Significance of Date	Comments
Q1 2004	5.0.13 Ship	This is slated to be the last release of the R5 maintenance stream
September 2004 (new date!)	End of Life (EOL) for the R5 release	Withdraw of R5 from market, meaning that R5 will no longer be available for sale. Customers under existing maintenance contracts will continue to be entitled to maintenance releases and hot fixes using normal channels.
September 2005 [updated]	End of Service (EOS) for the R5 release (Notes/Domino 7 is planned for Q3 2005)	End of phone Technical Support * and Maintenance Engineering (code fixes) for Domino and Notes 5.x.

ANNOUNCEMENT INFORMATION
In accordance with the standard IBM Software Group release management process and our commitment to continuous improvement of our product line, IBM Lotus software is announcing that Notes and Domino version 5.x (R5) will be retired from service in 2005. With Notes and Domino 6 in market for over two and one half years at that point, customers will have taken advantage of the easy upgrade and many improvements of Release 6 and subsequent upgrades.

For more than a decade, Lotus ® software innovations have changed the way individuals, teams and communities work together to achieve a common goal. Through IBM Lotus Notes ® technology, it’s possible to maximize the collaborative process, energize human interaction and drive business results for organizations of any size, in any industry.

From the first release of Notes, Lotus has set the standard by which collaborative applications have been and will continue to be measured. That standard of innovation is an integral part of Lotus software and something that Lotus continuously strives to surpass with each release of its market leading Integrated Collaborative Environment - IBM Lotus Notes/Domino.

Lotus Notes 6 and Lotus Domino 6 solutions were released to the market in September 2002 —offering over 1,000 new features and enhancements in response to customer requests and evolving market requirements -- with the largest focus on reducing total cost of ownership.

In a business world focused on reducing costs, customers must scrutinize spending and contribute to the bottom line — to help do more with less. With fewer resources and less time, Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino 6 can help drive down costs across the entire messaging environment. With Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino software customers can save money, drive productivity, increase automation, and reducing total cost of ownership.

With Lotus Notes/Domino 6 well in market, IBM Lotus implemented a broad set of initiatives designed to:

• Accelerate the pace of innovation
• Continue to focus on delivering features designed specifically to increase productivity and reduce total cost of ownership
• Increase integration between Notes/Domino and other key products within the IBM Software Group

Thus, IBM has implemented a shorter release cycle that employs two fundamental principles. First, IBM is committed to reusing software, technology and knowledge across its entire software portfolio. In fact, Release 6 of the Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino platform embraced this principle by integrating components and technology from DB2 ®,Tivoli ® and WebSphere ® software from IBM. This principle will drive future product design and strategy. Second, IBM is compressing release schedules for Notes/Domino to 12 to 18 month. Customers will see this play out with release 6.5 in 2003 and subsequent releases in 2004.

Notes/Domino 6.5
The 6.5 release introduces exciting enhancements and new features within the IBM Lotus Notes 6.5 client along with the IBM Lotus Domino Web Access 6.5. The IBM Lotus Notes 6.5 client will present a brand new way of looking at collaboration – IBM Lotus Workplace for Notes. This innovative Notes Welcome page brings together key elements of collaboration including content, processes and people. With tight integration between IBM Lotus Instant Messaging (formerly Sametime), end users can see whether the sender or co-recipients of a message are on-line and available to chat. This integration between messaging and instant messaging provides a context framework for effective synchronous communication. Additionally IBM Lotus Workplace for Notes allows for multiple views from various databases to be presented side by side with an Instant Messaging Buddy List, URL links, documents on disk and other collaborative elements.

Integration with Instant Messaging will be pervasive throughout the client. For example in an In-box view you will be able to see if a sender of an email is on-line and available to chat right from the view. That integration extends to forms, menus, toolbars - in fact even to the IBM Lotus Domino Designer. There you will be able to infuse collaborative applications with "Instant Messaging" capabilities, thereby extending their value to end-users.

Additionally, with release 6.5 of IBM Lotus Domino Web Access, the functionality gap that previously existed between the IBM Lotus iNotes Web Access client and the IBM Lotus Notes client is for all intents and purposes closed. This applies to both the messaging features of IBM Lotus Domino Web Access as well as the Calendar and Scheduling features. This gap closure will be exciting news for customers that see the value in a server deployed client solution and the potential cost savings that can be realized.

For customers who see Linux as a strategic imperative, release 6.5 of IBM Lotus Domino Web Access will provide support for the Mozilla browser on Linux . Support for Mozilla in IBM Lotus Domino Web Access is one component of the overall focus on Linux support in Release 6.5. Additionally, there will be comprehensive support on the server side that ranges from Intel based Linux servers all the way to Linux on zSeries.

IBM Lotus Notes/Domino in 2004
As we look beyond IBM Lotus Notes/Domino 6.5, the next major release for Notes/Domino is targeted for the second half of 2004. With release 6.5 focused predominantly on the client, the 2004 release will focus predominantly on the server.

With the release of Notes/Domino in 2004 we will be providing DB2 as an alternative back-end data store in addition to the traditional NSF data store. A DB2 back-end for Domino provides a number of benefits. The initial goal is to see scalability and performance characteristics at the same level as NSF and potentially higher. Additionally because Domino data will now be stored natively in DB2, integration with other back end systems, and also portals becomes easier and streamlined.

The use of the DB2 back-end store is optional and the process of moving NSF based information to DB2 is designed to be straightforward and efficient. Although DB2 is available and optional, it will be integrated with Domino in such a way that customers who have standardized on other relational database (RDBMS) technology for other business applications will not disturb their established RDBMS infrastructure.

DB2 will be available both for local and remote server use and security will be enforced as it is today.

From a collaborative application perspective, integration of the DB2 back-end is will be performed at a low enough level so that existing applications will work without change. In addition application developers using tools such as IBM Lotus Domino Designer will continue to use the same tools except they will have more control and flexibility and designing applications.

Innovation Driven By Focus
It's clear that innovation is paramount to the Notes/Domino product line and to our customers. Innovation is driven by focus, and focus is achieved by continuously assessing our product line and priorities to make sure that they are aligned with the demands of our customers and market.

With 6.0 firmly in market, 6.5 soon to follow in 2003, and plans for Notes/Domino into 2004 and beyond, IBM and Lotus software will start the process of withdrawing the R5 release of Notes/Domino (and all underlying products) from market. This process will take its course over the coming years, but there are some key dates to be aware of.

* Customers can submit a request to purchase an IBM Service Extension to extend phone support beyond this date if desired. For more information, contact your sales representative or your Lotus Service Manager if applicable. Although withdrawn from market, R5 will continue to be available for customers with an urgent need logged through the eCare Support Group.

Since its introduction to the market in the Spring of 1999, R5 has been a top-selling release that has been embraced by millions of users and thousands of organizations worldwide. With the release of Notes/Domino 6 to the market in Fall of 2002 and the upcoming release of Notes/Domino 6.5, customers have a compelling reason to upgrade to these new versions and realize the Total Cost of Ownership savings that these releases were designed around. And upgrading from R5 is simple - whether you decide to upgrade to release 6 or the upcoming 6.5 release. And once you have upgraded your Notes clients to at least the 6.0 release, the Smart Upgrade feature allows you to upgrade to newer versions of the Notes client, automatically from the server - further reducing TCO!

So take advantage of withdrawal of R5 from market as the opportunity to move up to the power and TCO saving of Notes/Domino 6.0 or higher.

Quelle: IBM.com August'03, Updated Mai'04