Editing Lotus Software

{{Short description|American technology company (1982–2018)}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Lotus Software
| logo = Lotus Software wordmark.svg
| type = Subsidiary
| foundation = {{start date and age|1982}} (as Lotus Development Corporation)
| defunct = {{end date and age|2018}}
| fate = Sold to [[HCL Technologies]]
| location = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], [[Massachusetts]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| key_people =
| industry = Computer software
| products = [[Lotus 1-2-3]]<br> [[Lotus Agenda]]<br>[[IBM Lotus Connections|Lotus Connections]]<br>[[IBM Lotus Domino|Lotus Domino]]<br>[[IBM Lotus Domino Web Access|Lotus Domino Web Access]]<br>[[IBM Lotus Expeditor|Lotus Expeditor]]<br>[[IBM Lotus Forms|Lotus Forms]] <br>[[IBM Lotus Freelance Graphics|Lotus Freelance Graphics]]<br>[[Lotus Improv]]<br>[[Lotus Magellan]]<br>[[Lotus Manuscript]]<br>[[Lotus Notes]]<br>Lotus Notes Traveler<br>Lotus Quickplace<br>Lotus Quickr<br>[[Lotus Sametime]] <br>[[Lotus SmartSuite]] <br>[[Lotus Symphony for DOS|Lotus Symphony]]<br>[[Lotus Word Pro|Lotus Word Pro]]<br>LotusWorks<ref name="Kendall 333">{{cite journal |last=Kendall |first=Robert |date=15 September 1993 |title=LotusWorks 3.0 review |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gasgHhfj-RAC&q=lotusworks+database&pg=PA333 |journal=[[PC Magazine]] |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=333 |access-date=20 February 2018}}</ref><br>[[Lotus Foundations]]<br>[[IBM Lotus Web Content Management]]
| revenue =
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| num_employees =
| parent = [[HCL Technologies|HCL]]
| subsid =
| homepage = [https://www.hcltechsw.com/notes Official website]
| footnotes =
}}

'''Lotus Software''' (called '''Lotus Development Corporation''' before its acquisition by [[IBM]])<ref name=AcquiredGone>{{cite web
|title=IBM offloads Notes and Domino to India's HCL Technologies
|website=TheRegister.co.uk
|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/10/30/ibm_hcl_notes_domino_partnership
|author=Simon Sharwood  |date=October 30, 2017}}</ref> was an American [[software]] company based in [[Massachusetts]]; it was sold to India's [[HCL Technologies]] in 2018.

Lotus is most commonly known for the [[Lotus 1-2-3]] [[spreadsheet]] application, the first feature-heavy, user-friendly, reliable, and [[WYSIWYG]]-enabled product to become widely available in the early days of the [[IBM PC]], when there was no [[graphical user interface]]. Much later, in conjunction with [[Ray Ozzie]]'s [[Iris Associates]], Lotus also released a [[groupware]] and [[email]] system, [[Lotus Notes]]. IBM purchased the company in 1995 for [[US$]]3.5 billion, primarily to acquire Lotus Notes and to establish a presence in the increasingly important [[client–server]] computing segment, which was rapidly making host-based products such as [[IBM OfficeVision|IBM's OfficeVision]] obsolete.<ref>{{Citation| title=IBM takes fight to Microsoft with Lotus Symphony| first=John E.| last=Dunn| publisher=Techworld.com| date=18 September 2007| access-date=2007-12-10| url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/09/18/IBM-takes-fight-to-Microsoft-with-Lotus-Symphony_1.html}}</ref>

On December 6, 2018, IBM announced the sale of Lotus Software/Domino to [[HCL Technologies|HCL]] for $1.8 billion.<ref name="techcrunch.com">{{Citation |title=IBM selling Lotus Notes/Domino business to HCL for $1.8B |date=7 December 2018 |url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/07/ibm-selling-lotus-notes-domino-business-to-hcl-for-1-8b |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013203613/https://www.infoworld.com/article/07/09/18/IBM-takes-fight-to-Microsoft-with-Lotus-Symphony_1.html |archive-date=2007-10-13}}</ref>

== History ==
{{plain image with caption|Lotus Development Corporation logo.svg|Logo of Lotus Development Corporation}}
Lotus was founded in 1982 by partners [[Mitch Kapor]] and [[Jonathan Sachs]] with backing from [[Sevin Rosen Funds|Ben Rosen]].<ref>{{cite book |title=On-demand Learning: Training in the New Millennium
|url=https://archive.org/details/ondemandlearning00hart  |url-access=registration
|isbn=978-0874255393
|author=Arin E. Hartley |date=2000|publisher=Human Resource Development }}</ref> By the end of that year the company offered Executive Briefing System, [[presentation software]] for the [[Apple II]].<ref name="callamaras198211">{{Cite magazine |last=Callamaras |first=Pete |date=November 1982 |title=Executive Briefing System |url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1982-11/page/n165/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=2024-12-30 |magazine=BYTE |pages=164-169}}</ref> Kapor founded Lotus after leaving his post as head of development at [[VisiCorp]], the distributors of the [[VisiCalc]] [[spreadsheet]], and selling all his rights to VisiPlot and VisiTrend to VisiCorp.

Shortly after Kapor left VisiCorp, he and Sachs produced an integrated spreadsheet and graphics program. Even though IBM and VisiCorp had a collaboration agreement whereby VisiCalc was being shipped simultaneously with the PC, Lotus had a superior product. Lotus released [[Lotus 1-2-3]] on January 26, 1983.<ref>{{cite web  |website=ZDnet.com
|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/goodbye-lotus-1-2-3/
|title=Goodbye, Lotus 1-2-3}}</ref> The name referred to the three ways the product could be used, as a spreadsheet, graphing tool, and [[database manager]]. The last two functions were less often used in practice, but 1-2-3 was the most powerful spreadsheet program available.

Lotus was almost immediately successful, becoming the world's third largest microcomputer software company in 1983 with $53 million in sales in its first year,<ref name="caruso 19840402">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kC4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA80 | title=Company Strategies Boomerang | work=InfoWorld | date=1984-04-02 | access-date=10 February 2015 | author=Caruso, Denise | pages=80–83}}</ref> compared to its business plan forecast of $1 million in sales. In 1982, [[Jim Manzi]] — a graduate of [[Colgate University]] and [[The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy]] — came to Lotus as a management consultant with [[McKinsey & Company]] and became an employee four months later. In October 1984, he was named president, and in April 1986, he was appointed [[CEO]], succeeding Kapor. In July of that same year, he also became chairman of the board. Manzi remained at the head of Lotus until 1995.{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}

===Dominance===
[[File:Lotus_Symphony_Reference_Manual_(1984).jpg|thumb|A book of Lotus Symphony (DOS) Reference Manual, published in 1984]]
As the popularity of the [[personal computer]] grew, Lotus quickly came to dominate the spreadsheet market. Lotus introduced other office products such as [[Ray Ozzie]]'s [[Lotus Symphony for DOS|Symphony]] in 1984 and the [[Lotus Jazz|Jazz]] office suite for the [[Apple Macintosh]] computer in 1985. Jazz did very poorly in the market (in Guy Kawasaki's book ''The Macintosh Way,'' Lotus Jazz was described as being so bad, "even the people who pirated it returned it").<ref>{{cite web  |website=Cnet.com
|title=Mitch Kapor remembers Lotus' Macintosh bomb
|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/mitch-kapor-remembers-lotus-macintosh-bomb}}</ref> Also in 1985, Lotus bought [[Software Arts]] and discontinued its VisiCalc program.<ref>{{cite magazine  |magazine=Infoworld |date=June 24, 1985  |page=20  |title=Lotus acquires Software Arts
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ES8EAAAAMBAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine  |magazine=Infoworld
|title=VisiCalc discontinued
|date=June 2, 1986  |page=8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SC8EAAAAMBAJ}}</ref> By that year [[Forrester Research]] considered Lotus, [[Ashton-Tate]], Microsoft, and [[Borland]] the "Big Four" of personal computer software.<ref name="forbes19851021">{{Cite magazine |last=Forbes |first=Jim |date=1985-10-21 |title=Corporate Mergers Offer Clout |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jy8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA24#v=onepage&q&f=true |access-date=2025-03-16 |magazine=InfoWorld |page=24}}</ref>

In the late 1980s, Lotus developed [[Lotus Magellan]], a file management and indexing utility.<ref>{{cite magazine
|magazine=Atlantic magazine
|title=Zoot! |date=August 1, 1997  |author=James Fallows
|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1997/08/zoot/376931}}</ref> In this period, Manuscript, a word processor, [[Lotus Agenda]], an innovative personal information manager (PIM) which flopped, and [[Lotus Improv|Improv]], a ground-breaking modeling package (and spreadsheet) for the [[NeXT]] platform, were released. Improv also flopped, and none of these products significantly impacted the market.

==="Look and feel" lawsuits===
{{main|Look and Feel}}
Lotus was involved in several lawsuits, of which the most significant was the "[[look and feel]]" cases which started in 1987. Lotus sued [[Paperback Software International|Paperback Software]] and Mosaic for copyright infringement, false and misleading advertising, and [[unfair competition]] over their low-cost clones of 1-2-3, VP Planner and Twin, and sued [[Borland]] over its Quattro spreadsheet. This led [[Richard Stallman]], founder of the [[Free Software Foundation]], to found the [[League for Programming Freedom]] (LPF) and hold protests outside Lotus Development offices.<ref name=NewsW>{{cite magazine
|magazine=Newsweek |date=August 27, 1990  |author1=John Scwartz
|author2=Debra Rosenberg |title=Computing the Cost of Copyright: Programmers fight "Look and Feel" lawsuits}}</ref> Paperback and Mosaic lost and went out of business; Borland won and survived. The LPF filed an ''[[amicus curiae]]'' [[brief (law)|brief]] in the Borland case.<ref>{{Citation| url=http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/6805/articles/int-prop/lotus/lpf-amicus2.txt| title=Brief of Amicus Curiae: League for Programming Freedom in Support of Respondent| last1=Moglen| first1=Eben| last2=Karlan| first2=Pamela S.| year=1995| access-date=2007-12-10| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118180307/http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/6805/articles/int-prop/lotus/lpf-amicus2.txt| archive-date=2007-11-18| url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Diversification and acquisition by IBM===
In the 1990s, to compete with Microsoft's Windows applications, Lotus had to buy in products such as Ami Pro (word processor),<ref>"Ami Pro, also called just Ami initially, was a word processor sold by Samna and later Lotus Software, where it became Lotus Word Pro." {{cite web
|title=AmiPro 3.x  |url=https://winworldpc.com/product/amipro/3x  |website=WinWorldPC.com}}</ref><ref>"There is much to recommend Ami Pro 2.0, the latest version of Lotus Corp.'s high-powered word processing program for Windows.  {{cite news  |newspaper=LA Times
|title=Lotus Ami Pro Program Is Hard to Beat |date=October 24, 1991
|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-24-fi-459-story.html}}</ref> Approach (database), and Threadz, which became [[Lotus Organizer]]. Several applications (1-2-3, Freelance Graphics, Ami Pro, Approach, and [[Lotus Organizer]]) were bundled together under the name [[Lotus SmartSuite]]. Although SmartSuite was bundled cheaply with many PCs and may initially have been more popular than [[Microsoft Office]], Lotus quickly lost its dominance in the desktop applications market with the transition from 16- to [[32-bit]] applications running on [[Windows 95]]. In large part due to its focusing much of its development resources on a suite of applications for IBM's new (and eventually commercially unsuccessful) [[OS/2]] operating system, Lotus was late in delivering its suite of 32-bit products and failed to capitalize on the transition to the new version of Windows. The last significant new release was the SmartSuite Millennium Edition, released in 1999.<ref>{{cite web
|website=CNN.com
|date=December 9, 1999
|title=8 easy Y2K fixes
|url=http://archives.cnn.com/1999/TECH/computing/12/09/y2k.fixes.idg/index.html
|access-date=August 1, 2018
|archive-date=June 25, 2021
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625122220/http://archives.cnn.com/1999/TECH/computing/12/09/y2k.fixes.idg/index.html
|url-status=dead
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?infotype=OC%26subtype=NA%26htmlfid=897/ENUS5724-F77%26appname=totalstorage
|title=IBM Lotus SmartSuite|website=[[IBM]] |date=2017-07-13}}</ref>

All new development of the suite was ended in 2000, with ongoing maintenance being moved overseas. The last update release was in 2014.<ref>{{cite web
|title=IBM Lotus 1-2-3, Lotus SmartSuite and Lotus Organizer
|url=https://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21639384  |date=October 26, 2014}}</ref>

Lotus began its diversification from the desktop software business with its 1984 strategic founding investment in Ray Ozzie's Iris Associates, the creator of its Lotus Notes groupware platform. As a result of this early speculative move, Lotus gained significant experience in network-based communications years before other competitors in the PC world had even started thinking about networked computing or the [[Internet]]. Lotus initially brought Lotus Notes to market in 1989 and later reinforced its market presence by acquiring [[cc:Mail]] in 1991.<ref>{{Cite news|date=12 Feb 1991|title=Lotus to add electronic mail unit|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/12/business/company-news-lotus-to-add-electronic-mail-unit.html|access-date=7 July 2021}}</ref> In 1994, Lotus acquired Iris Associates. Lotus's dominant groupware position attracted IBM, which needed to make a strategic move away from host-based messaging products and to establish a stronger presence in client-server computing, but it also soon attracted stiff competition from [[Microsoft Exchange Server]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}}

In the second quarter of 1995, IBM launched a hostile bid for Lotus<ref name=AcquiredGone/> with a $60-per-share tender offer when Lotus' stock was only trading at $32. Jim Manzi looked for potential white knights and forced IBM to increase its bid to $64.50 per share for a $3.5 billion buyout of Lotus in July 1995.<ref>{{Citation| first=Barbara| last=Darrow| title=Jim Manzi| date=12 December 2003| publisher=CRN.com
|url=http://www.crn.com/sections/special/hof/hof03.jhtml;?articleId=18825870&_requestid=226714}}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> On October 11, 1995, Manzi announced his resignation from what had become the Lotus Development division of IBM; he left with stock worth $78 million.

===Assimilation of name, website, and branding===
While IBM allowed Lotus to develop, market, and sell its products under its own brand name, a restructuring in January 2001<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lotus restructuring may lead to tighter IBM control|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/lotus-restructuring-may-lead-to-tighter-ibm-control/|access-date=2020-07-14|website=CNET|language=en}}</ref> brought it more in line with its parent company, IBM. Also, IBM moved vital marketing and management functions from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to IBM's New York office.

Gradually, the Lotus.com website changed its "About us" section to eliminate references to "Lotus Development Corporation". The Lotus.com web page in 2001 clearly showed the company as "Lotus Development Corporation" with "a word from its CEO" by 2002, the "About us" section was removed from its site menu, and the Lotus logo was replaced with the IBM logo. By 2003 an "About Lotus" link returned to the Lotus.com page on its sidebar, but this time identifying the company as "Lotus software from IBM" and showing in its contact information "Lotus Software, IBM Software Group". By 2008 the Lotus.com domain name stopped showing a standalone site, instead redirecting to www.ibm.com/software/lotus, and in 2012 the site discontinued all reference to Lotus Software in favor of IBM Collaboration Solutions.

IBM discontinued development of IBM Lotus Symphony in 2012 with the final release of version 3.0.1, moving future development effort to Apache OpenOffice, and donating the source code to the Apache Software Foundation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/07/14/ibm_symphony_goes_to_asf/ |title=IBM crams Lotus Symphony back into OpenOffice |author=Gavin Clarke |date=July 14, 2011 |work=The Register |access-date=October 8, 2013}}</ref> Later that year, IBM announced it was discontinuing the Lotus brand<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eweek.com/enterprise-apps/ibm-drops-lotus-brand-takes-notes-and-domino-forward/ |title=IBM Drops Lotus Brand, Takes Notes and Domino Forward |author=Darryl K. Taft |date=November 17, 2012 |work=Eweek |access-date=October 8, 2013}}</ref> and on March 13, 2013, IBM announced the availability of IBM Notes and Domino 9.0 Social Edition,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?subtype=ca&infotype=an&appname=iSource&supplier=897&letternum=ENUS213-085 |title=IBM Notes and Domino 9.0 Social Edition puts you on a solid path to becoming a social business |date=March 12, 2013 |work=IBM United States Software Announcement 213-085 |publisher=IBM |access-date=October 8, 2013}}</ref> replacing prior versions of IBM Lotus Notes and IBM Lotus Domino and marking the end of Lotus as an active brand.

On December 6, 2018, IBM announced the selling of Lotus Software/Domino to HCL for $1.8 billion.<ref name="techcrunch.com"/>

==Corporate culture==
[[Image:MitchKapor.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Mitch Kapor]]]]
Lotus's first employee was Janet Axelrod, who created the Human Resources organization and was the central figure in creating the Lotus culture. As she continued to build her organization and play a central role with senior management, she eventually hired [[Freada Klein]] as the first director of employee relations.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

In 1995 Lotus had over 4,000 employees worldwide; IBM's acquisition of Lotus was greeted with apprehension by many Lotus employees, who feared that the corporate culture of "Big Blue" would smother their creativity. To the surprise of many employees and journalists, IBM initially adopted a very hands-off, laissez-faire attitude toward its new acquisition.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.strategy-business.com/article/18930?gko=264ad|title=Post-Merger Integration: How I.B.M. and Lotus Work Together|last=Rifkin|first=Glenn|website=strategy+business|access-date=2020-03-02}}</ref>

However, by 2000 the assimilation of Lotus was well underway. While the mass employee defections that IBM feared did not materialize, many long-time Lotus employees did complain about the transition to IBM's culture—IBM's [[employee benefits]] programs, in particular, were singled out as inferior to Lotus's very progressive programs.{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}}

Lotus's headquarters in Cambridge were initially divided into two buildings, the Lotus Development Building (LDB) on the banks of the [[Charles River]] and the Rogers Street building, adjacent to the CambridgeSide Galleria. However, in 2001, President and General Manager Al Zollar decided to keep the lease of LDB. The subsequent migration of employees across the street (and into home offices) generally coincided with the final departure of employees from the company.  Later, IBM's offices at 1 Rogers St supported mobile employees, the [[Thomas J. Watson Research Center|Watson Research Center]] on [[User interface]], and [[IBM WebSphere DataPower SOA Appliances|IBM DataPower]].

==Products==

IBM sponsored the "Lotus Greenhouse", a community web site featuring software from IBM and its business partners.

===Discontinued products===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Lotus Connections]]
* [[Lotus Domino]]
* [[Lotus Domino Web Access]]
* [[Lotus Expeditor]]
* [[Lotus Forms]]
* [[Lotus Foundations]]
* [[LotusLive]]
* [[Lotus Mashups]]
* [[Lotus Notes]]
* [[Lotus Notes Traveler]]
* IBM Lotus Quickr, which replaces [[Lotus QuickPlace]]
* [[Lotus Sametime]]
* [[IBM Lotus Web Content Management]]
{{div col end}}
* [[Lotus SmartSuite]] including [[Lotus 1-2-3]], [[Lotus Word Pro]], [[Lotus Freelance Graphics]], [[Lotus Approach]], [[Lotus Organizer]] (discontinued on 30-Sep-2014)<ref>[http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?subtype=ca&infotype=an&appname=iSource&supplier=897&letternum=ENUS913-091 Software withdrawal and discontinuance of support: Lotus SmartSuite, Lotus Organizer and Lotus 123]</ref>
* Lotus Domino Document Manager [http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21284609 (discontinued on 30-Sep-2012)]
* [[Lotus Agenda]]
* [[cc:Mail|Lotus cc:Mail]]
* Lotus HAL
* [[Lotus Impress]]
* [[Lotus Improv]]
* [[Lotus Jazz]]
* [[Lotus Magellan]]
* [[Lotus Manuscript]]
* [[Lotus Marketplace]]
* [[Lotus Symphony for DOS|Lotus Symphony]] (DOS version)
* [[IBM Lotus Symphony]]<ref name="PCWorld">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/248849/coming_soon_an_ibm_edition_of_apache_openoffice.html|access-date=11 April 2012|title=Coming Soon: An 'IBM Edition' of Apache OpenOffice|first=Katherine|last=Noyes|magazine=[[PCWorld (magazine)|PCWorld]]|date=27 January 2012}}</ref>
* LotusWorks<ref name="Kendall 333">{{cite journal |last=Kendall |first=Robert |date=15 September 1993 |title=LotusWorks 3.0 review |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gasgHhfj-RAC&q=lotusworks+database&pg=PA333 |journal=[[PC Magazine]] |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=333 |access-date=20 February 2018}}</ref> (formerly AlphaWorks, bought from Alpha Software in May 1990)<ref>{{cite journal |last=Perrators |first=Ed |date=August 1991 |title=Integrated Software review: LotusWorks 1.0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JkmqysqcLI0C&q=lotusworks+2.0&pg=PT289 |journal=[[PC Magazine]] |pages=276 |access-date=20 February 2018}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.ibm.com/software/lotus/ Official website]
{{Finance links historical
| name = Lotus Development Corp.
| sec_cik = 0000711761
}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.lotus.com Lotus.com Official website] (Archive)
* [http://purl.umn.edu/107619 Oral history interview with Jonathan Sachs] discusses the development of Lotus 1-2-3, [[Charles Babbage Institute]], University of Minnesota

{{Lotus Software}}
{{IBM}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Software companies established in 1982]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1982]]
[[Category:Lotus Software software]]
[[Category:IBM acquisitions]]
[[Category:Companies based in Cambridge, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Software companies based in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1982 establishments in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1995 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:Defunct software companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Former IBM subsidiaries]]