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RFP Collaborative Computing Solutions

· Integrated Solution. The benefits of an integrated solution are compelling. It is far better across application types (mail, discussions, document libraries, calendaring and scheduling) to provide a single user interface for getting work done; a single product to train users; a single product and interface to support; a single application development interface; a single server infrastructure, rather than a multitude of poorly integrated servers; a common set of services such as security, replication, access control, object storage agent services, directory services and more, applied consistently across application types; and a single, central, multiserver management and administration console.

Network Computing's Evaluation of Lotus' RFP
To download an Adobe Acrobat .pdf format version of the Lotus Network Proposal, click here.
Pros: Redundancy; server clustering; new hardware included; built-in growth; inbo und fax, e-mail routing provided

Cons: No voicemail integration; no support for IMAP4 or LDAP

Lotus proposed a highly integrated and scalable solution using Domino for symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) servers, Domino 4.5, Lotus Notes 4.5 and Notes Mail. Core Domino servers run a database server, mail router, HTTP services, calendar and scheduling, events and statistics, and the administrative process. Domino-Notes offers enterprisewide messaging, fax and paging, calendaring and scheduling, discussion groups, workflow, security and database, Internet and legacy connectivity.

Calendaring and scheduling is integrated in the user's universal inbox and is available across operating platforms, including Web browsers. With Domino workflow, the user interface, program and location are hosted on a Domino server, so there is no need for external databases. Notes lets users create and test rules before running them.

The Lotus solution includes all new hardware at the core locations, eight servers in fo ur clusters, plus a Web server and a Domino Fax and Pager server. This configuration provides full fault-tolerance and dynamic load-balancing within the server clusters. NT servers would be deployed at the main offices, while the branches would redeploy the existing cc:Mail servers. A change from NetWare to NT in the branches would not be required beca use Domino runs as a NetWare Loadable Module (NLM). In all, 10 Compaq Computer Corp. ProLiant 6000 servers with 512 MB of RAM and a 40-GB disk with RAID 5 were proposed. Talk about built-in growth! And these servers can support 3,000 concurrent users, greatly decreasing the complexity of MegaSystems' present environment by reducing the number of servers required and lowering management and administrative support costs.

The solution design's first phase proposes putting the Lotus Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) Message Transfer Agent (MTA) in the Chicago location, where an Internet National Access Point (NAP) is located. This will be beneficial if MegaSy stems signs up with an ISP that is connected to the Chicago NAP. Phase II includes upgrading the dial-up network connections for the branch locations to 56-Kbps frame relay for their Internet connection to Chicago. U.S. Robotics modems are proposed for every location to provide for remote access for mobile users.

The migration plan includes a strategy for the transition and a period of coexistence between messaging systems. Chicago would be the first office migrated, with the other three core locations following. In Phase II, Notes servers would be installed in all the branch locations and users there would be migrated. Lotus suggests bringing all the MegaSystems employees into the Notes environment by installing kiosks in high-traffic areas with Web browsers to access messaging and workflow, but costs for these new users were not included. The total cost of the Lotus solution is $612,709.

The cc:Mail users would be converted to Notes by means of the cc:Mail-to-Notes migration tool, which enables multip le post offices to be migrated to a single server or cluster. Another feature of the tool is the ability to migrate cc:Mail Mobile users to Notes by using the included Admin and User Tools. The Admin Tool performs directory, message and user migration. The User Tool provides message migration and user conversion of local information such as a private direc tory, mobile post office and archives.

The Domino Fax server lets inbound faxes be read optically and routed automatically to an e-mail address. This feature was unique among the product offerings. Domino Fax and Pager Server is also the only native solution proposed for fax and paging capability. The pager capability can handle administrative event notifications regarding the health of the Notes and Domino environment.

The proposed solution did not include voicemail integration (both Novell's and Microsoft's did). The products do not yet offer Internet Mail Access Protocol version 4 (IMAP4), Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) or Li ghtweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) support.