IBM WorkGroup Unveiled at Comdex

LAS VEGAS, Nev., Nov. 15 ... IBM, the world's largest software company,
announced today IBM WorkGroup, a family of integrated, customizable
software that simplifies and streamlines the way teams get work done --
whether the work is highly structured, such as insurance claim processing,
or ad hoc. The rich functionality of IBM WorkGroup goes far beyond current
groupware offerings to encompass communications, work management and
information management. These capabilities can improve both individual and
team productivity by ensuring that the right information reaches the right
people at the right time.

IBM WorkGroup includes a new client/server messaging function, based on IBM
Ultimail technology, and IBM Message Queuing Series (MQSeries), a robust
messaging backbone. Other advanced functions included in the new IBM
WorkGroup software portfolio are IBM's FlowMark, for workflow management;
Visualizer, for data query, analysis and reporting; Visual Document
Library, for document management; FormTalk, for forms routing, tracking
and approval; SearchManager, for contextual searches; Person to Person,
for chalkboard and personal video conferencing; and VisualInfo, for image
processing.

The integrated IBM WorkGroup functions, now in beta, include mail,
scheduling and calendaring, based on IBM Time and Place, and directory and
fax capabilities. Teams can send and receive graphic and audio messages,
and schedule meetings or events across multiple time zones from their
desktops, and easily locate people and resources.

IBM WorkGroup facilitates communications, information management, and the
automation of work at the department level, or in large complex networks
where mission-critical information is transmitted across and among
enterprises. It also tracks results to measure productivity improvement.

Customers need a workgroup solution that fits with the software and
hardware they already have in place," said Steven Mills, general manager,
IBM Software Solutions Division. "IBM is uniquely positioned to help
customers in this area because of our broad range of functionality and our
ability to support many operating systems, industry standards and data
types."

IBM WorkGroup enables users to access critical business data and leverage
existing technology investments across multiple platforms. IBM WorkGroup
clients are available for OS/2, OS/2 Warp and Microsoft Windows 3.1.
Servers will scale among OS/2, OS/2 Warp, OS/400 and AIX systems.
Macintosh, Windows 95 and Unix clients will be supported in the future,
along with other server platforms, including Unix and System/390.

"We're driving toward simplicity for the user by delivering fewer, but
richer, functions without limiting their choices," said Richard Sullivan,
director, IBM WorkGroup marketing. "Users should view their IBM WorkGroup
client as a window to critical business information, no matter where it
resides or what data type it takes."

For ease of use and administration, the functions in IBM WorkGroup have a
consistent look-and-feel, as well as common administration, installation,
directory services and a single logon.

Open Standards; Interoperability

IBM WorkGroup will support the following open, industry standards: the
Shamrock Document Coalition for document management; the Workflow
Coalition for workflow automation; Component Integration Labs for the
OpenDoc object container architecture; Vendor Independent Messaging (VIM);
Mail API (MAPI); Common Mail Call (CMC); and Calendaring and Scheduling
(CSA). It will also support the prevalent transmission protocols and mail
standards, including Simple Mail Transfer Protocol/Multipurpose Internet
Mail Extension (SMTP/MIME), X.400 and Systems Network Architecture
Distribution Services (SNADS).

Customers with IBM OfficeVision will be able to take advantage of IBM
WorkGroup through mail directory and calendar gateways, and will be
provided on-going support and product enhancements. IBM WorkGroup is also
designed to interoperate with Lotus Notes and cc:Mail. FlowMark, for
example, works with Lotus Notes to provide workflow capability in the
Lotus Notes environment. IBM OfficeVision and Lotus' cc:Mail, Notes and
SmartSuite will continue to play a role in IBM WorkGroup. In addition, IBM
WorkGroup will leverage IBM OS/2 Warp's BonusPak utilities for intuitive
access to the Internet and other online services.

Work Management

IBM WorkGroup provides a seamless work automation system by linking its
communications and information management capabilities with a powerful
workflow function. By mapping how work flows through an organization,
businesses can easily identify bottlenecks and redesign the workflow for
greater efficiency.

One of the early users of IBM WorkGroup's work management functions is
Rancocas Orthopedic Associates, with offices in Willingboro and Marlton,
N.J.

"Information is everything and time is everything," said Dr. Ronald
Krasnick, orthopedic surgeon at Rancocas. "IBM WorkGroup looks like the
most efficient way available to process the patient, from A to Z. I think
it will allow us to get back to what we wanted to do to begin with, which
is to treat people."

FlowMark, the workflow function of IBM WorkGroup, will streamline the
process of getting work done by ensuring that normal work routines flow
automatically. It searches for needed information and routes work from
person to person.

Information Management

IBM WorkGroup offers information management functions that can speed the
decision-making process by making it easier for groups to access, share or
analyze information, whether it is stored as text, images, spreadsheets,
graphic files or multimedia. The library facility can interoperate with
popular desktop productivity applications and allow documents of any type
to be stored and catalogued.

Robust Infrastructure

IBM WorkGroup is built on time-tested IBM technology that has been used in
a wide range of customer production sites. For example, the powerful
MQSeries provides dependable information delivery and the levels of
security and reliability on the LAN that users have come to expect from
their host-based environments.

"We've designed IBM WorkGroup to maintain its reliability, security and
dependability in work groups of 10, 100, or 100,000," said Richard
Sullivan. "IBM WorkGroup delivers a safe and secure delivery mechanism for
all work, ranging from e-mail, messaging and financial transactions, to
insurance claims and video clips."

Pricing and Availability

The work management and information management capabilities of IBM
WorkGroup are available today. The functions now in beta will be generally
available in the first half of 1995, at which time pricing will be
announced.

IBM WorkGroup software will be distributed through channels that include
IBM Direct, value added resellers, systems integrators and independent
software vendors (ISVs). The core functions of IBM WorkGroup provide open
interfaces and links to other vendors' popular products and will be open
for customization and extension by ISVs, value added resellers, service
organizations and I/S professionals.

IBM WorkGroup is consistent with IBM's strategy for open distributed
computing as described in the Open Blueprint. The Open Blueprint is a
structure for a distributed systems environment and incorporates a wide
range of standards. It provides the base upon which to build, run and
manage distributed applications in a diverse multivendor world.

For additional information on IBM WorkGroup, users in the U.S. can call
1-800-426-3333 x727.

Based in Somers, N.Y., IBM's Software Solutions Division provides data
management, application development and workgroup solutions for
mission-critical applications on PCs, workstations, LANs and host
systems.

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