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The implementation of a corporate intranet is often the first non-messaging project that a company utilizing IBM Lotus Notes/Domino (LND) undertakes. A "Notes shop" is typically exposed to the often underutilized product via its robust e-mail, calendaring, and task management capabilities. It is, however, the Notes Database architecture and the Lotus Notes Client's ability to replicate server-side functionality in an offline or otherwise "island" state, that make it an excellent intranet solution engine.

This series of articles on Intranet Journal will discuss the various methods of implementing and expanding your corporate intranet solution utilizing LND, provide an overview of various LND-based applications, and is intended to ultimately provide its readers with a single point of access to everything intranet via IBM Lotus Notes/Domino.

Introduction to IBM Lotus Notes/Domino

Since 1989, Lotus Notes has been utilized to deliver content across an organization. With built-in e-mail and group discussion capabilities, Lotus Notes 1.0 was already providing its users with intranet-like content sharing capabilities. With the release of Lotus Notes 4.0 (Jan. 1996), the internet-ready Lotus Notes database provided an organization with even more options for the delivery and sharing of company information.

At the time of this publication, the current version of IBM Lotus Notes/Domino is LND 7.0, which was released Aug. 30, 2005. It is one of the most powerful, secure, and multi-functional collaborative tools on the market.

IBM Lotus Notes/Domino is designed to deliver its solutions to various users under various circumstances, arguably making LND an ideal organization-wide solution engine. With the Lotus Notes Client, Web browser, and PDA/Smartphone clients, a given LND solution can provide anyone in an organization with the mission-critical information they need to get the job done, regardless of their current location.

Out of the box, IBM Lotus Notes/Domino provides the administrator with the ability to deploy collaborative LND-based solutions via pre-built application templates. An intranet-centric list of these templates is listed below:

• Discussion: Notes & Web
• Doc Library: Notes & Web
• TeamRoom

This template-based architecture allows for multi-instance creation of collaborative solutions with a simple approach and execution. Within minutes, an administrator can create fully functional, secure, and user-maintained solutions. In fact, the three templates listed above can often meet the intranet-solution needs of a small-to-medium sized organization.

IBM Lotus Notes/Domino: Template Details

To get a better understanding of what each of these built-in application templates can do, there is an extended list below detailing the suggested usage of the given template.

Discussion: Notes & Web
"A discussion database is an informal meeting place, where the members of a workgroup can share ideas and comments. Like a physical meeting, each member of the workgroup listens to what others have to say and can voice his/her own opinions. However, unlike a physical meeting, the participants do not have to be in the same room at the same time to share information. People can participate when it is convenient for them to do so, and because it is easy for them to share information, they will do so."
(source: Discussion "About This Database" document)

Doc Library: Notes & Web
"A Document Library application is an electronic filing cabinet that stores reference documents for access by a workgroup. The database might contain anything from environmental impact statements for a group of engineers to financial statements for a group of loan officers."
(source: Discussion "About This Database" document)

Teamroom
"TeamRoom is a Lotus Domino application that gives you a powerful and flexible tool for efficient information sharing and collaboration."
(source: Lotus Notes Help File)

These are simple examples of fully functional LND-based solutions. This series of articles will delve further into their utilization and the use of other LND-based applications to provide your company with an intranet solution that meets and exceeds their needs — a true organization-wide collaborative information share.

Recommended Reading

For further general information on IBM Lotus Notes/Domino and the products history, I recommend the following external resources:

• What is Notes? (Julian Robichaux)
• The History of Notes and Domino (developerWorks Lotus)

About this Series
This series of articles on intranet solutions with IBM Lotus Notes/Domino is intended to help readers understand the fundamental methodology and capabilities of the product and how to utilize it to deliver a feature-rich, secure, and functional corporate intranet solution. It will include implementation strategies, case studies, industry-tested tips and tricks, and, with your input, true value to the administrator or developer who wants to utilize IBM Lotus Notes/Domino technologies to deliver winning intranet solutions.

If you have any questions on the series, Lotus Notes/Domino, or if there's something you'd like to see addressed, visit the Intranet Journal Discussion Forum.

About the Author
Chris Toohey is a Principal for Clearframe, LLC., and Webmaster for DominoGuru.com. He started by working for a small company as "the IT guy", and when this small company was acquired by a large IBM Lotus Notes/Domino-shop in 1998, he unwittingly became the company's Lotus Notes Administrator and Developer... and has never looked back.

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Other Resources

from Intranet Journal

Intranet Journal Discussion Board Lotus Embraces Expanded Collaboration

from JupiterWeb

IBM developerWorks on DevX

from the Web

What is Notes? (Julian Robichaux) The History of Notes and Domino (developerWorks Lotus)