LOTUS ANNOUNCES NOTES RELEASE 4 CERTIFICATION AND EDUCATION CURRICULUM

INNOVATIVE NEW "TASK-BASED" PROGRAM WILL EXPEDITE LEARNING CURVE FOR NOTES
RELEASE 4

ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 22, 1996 -- Lotus Development Corp. today announced
availability of new certification programs and education curriculum
materials developed specifically for Notes Release 4. Notes, the world's
leading messaging and groupware product, began shipping earlier this
month. New Lotus Education programs include performance-based professional
certification, task-based instructor-led and self-paced classes, and new
business user-designed seminars to ensure smooth Notes Release 4
deployment.

The curricula for Lotus Authorized Education Centers (LAECs) and their
customers cover the advanced technical functionality of Notes Release 4
and are fundamentally constructed to teach competency in common job tasks.
This new approach was adopted in response to in-depth research by the
Educational Testing Service on how users actually use Notes in their
day-to-day work. This task-based approach, which focuses on the transfer
of knowledge needed by customers to complete specific job tasks, will
significantly shorten learning cycles and save corporate training
expenses.

"IS managers considering moving to Notes Release 4 can feel confident that
Lotus and its Business Partners have comprehensive offerings already in
place to assist corporate users with the education and training process
needed for a new product," said Jim Krzywicki, vice president, Lotus
Education and Certification. "The new education curriculum will make
deployment of Notes Release 4 that much easier by increasing training
efficiency."

NOTES RELEASE 4 CURRICULUM

The Notes Release 4 curriculum incorporates learning objectives, in both
the instructor-led and self-paced courses, transferring knowledge not only
about the functions and features of the product, but also on how to apply
the technology effectively in performing specific job functions. The
learning objectives are also mapped to the certification exams, ensuring
that individuals achieving Certified Lotus Professional (CLP) status are
able to demonstrate competency in the defined set of tasks required of
them as application developers, system administrators and service
providers.

To ensure that the new curriculum reflects the needs of the Lotus Notes
marketplace and is of the highest quality, substantial investments in
additional resources were made, including the addition of a staff
psychometrician to oversee curriculum test development. Development
initiatives include:

* Collaboration with the developers of Notes Release 4 to ensure that
educational programs reflect the new features and functions of the
product;

* Partnering with subject matter experts from the channel to incorporate
additional business perspectives;

* Appropriate content and instructional depth;

* Curriculum translation into Japanese, Taiwanese, French, Italian, German
and Spanish.

"Lotus Education has invested in the development of a totally new
educational program that maps to performance-based learning objectives,"
said Ellen Julian, senior analyst, International Data Corp. "This
'task-oriented' approach will help trainers and users reach competency
more quickly and effectively which is good news for IS managers
contemplating migration to Notes Release 4."

BUSINESS EDUCATION SEMINAR SERIES

In addition to assuming the management and delivery of Accelerated Value
Method (AVM) courses, as part of the overall Business Education Seminar
Series, Lotus Education has also begun the roll-out of an Executive
Education Seminar Series focused on business issues and strategic planning
for the enterprise. The seminars will facilitate discussions to address
leveraging the Notes technology to increase productivity and maximize
return on investment. Senior Managers will explore topics including:
Business process management and Integration of teams, tasks and
technology.

CHANNEL ENABLEMENT

As a result of the enablement programs implemented during the Notes Release
4 Test Build phase, instructor-led user training is available through more
than 500 LAECs worldwide. Lotus has been highly committed to ensuring that
both the LAEC and Business Partner communities are ready to service Notes
Release 4 customers upon product release.

One of the pre-release offerings developed by Lotus Education to jump-start
partners and training centers was the Education Connection. The Education
Connection included a comprehensive package of self-paced education
materials specific to a Notes Release 4 Test Build, as well as a new
distance learning tool for Certified Lotus Instructors. LAECs are fully
prepared to educate and assist users in recertification planning.

According to LAEC member Krista Curtiss, commercial account manager,
Quality System Inc., "We have been preparing for Notes Release 4 over the
past few months and, thanks to Lotus and the Education Connection, have
met our goal to be totally up to speed and ready to handle customer
needs."

In addition to the pre-release enablement materials, a new seminar product
has been developed to assist LAECs in introducing Notes Release 4 training
and deployment. Seminar-in-a-Box is a starter kit providing LAECs all the
materials they need to host introductory Notes Release 4 seminars at their
individual sites, for new or prospective customers. The format is flexible
enough to be delivered with technical, hands-on exposure or as a shorter
"marketing" overview.

CERTIFIED LOTUS PROFESSIONALS (CLP)

The CLP program continues to provide a method for quantitatively measuring
product knowledge among technical professionals using Notes. A CLP
designation ensures that the people and organizations administering and
developing Lotus products and applications have met Lotus' stringent
technical requirements and are able to apply their knowledge effectively
in a job performance environment. The new certification designations for
Notes Release 4 incorporate the task-based curriculum objectives and set
the standard that is demanded by the industry to support the innovative
new technology demonstrated in Notes Release 4.

The CLP designations for Notes Release 4 include:

* APPLICATION DEVELOPER - directed toward individuals responsible for
building database Notes applications that automate workflow between
several departments.

* PRINCIPAL APPLICATION DEVELOPER - directed toward individuals responsible
for building enterprise-wide Notes applications that encompass multiple
databases, departments, and tasks in and outside of Notes.

* SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR - directed toward individuals experienced in Notes
server installation, server monitoring and statistics, server maintenance
and operations, certification, managing multiple Notes domains and
controlling Notes communications.

* PRINCIPAL SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR - directed toward those who have achieved
Systems Administrator status while also proving expertise in the ability
to integrate additional communication product technology.

Notes Release 4 certification exams are currently available worldwide
through Sylvan Prometric (formerly Drake Prometric). For more information,
contact the Lotus Education Helpline at 800-346-6409 or 617-693-4436.

ABOUT LOTUS EDUCATION

Lotus Education is a worldwide organization dedicated to providing
consistent, high-quality training and education programs to users of Lotus
Notes, cc:Mail and the full range of Lotus desktop products. Its mission
is to positively impact worldwide competence in the industry as it relates
to rapid deployment and effective use of Lotus products in organizations.

Lotus Development Corp., a subsidiary of IBM Corp., offers high quality
software products and support services that reflect the company's unique
understanding of the new ways in which individuals and businesses must
work together to achieve success. Lotus' innovative approach is evident in
a new class of applications that allows information to be accessed and
communicated in ways never before possible, both within and beyond
organizational boundaries. The company also provides numerous support
services, from its consulting division, its education division and its
award-winning 24-hour support center.

EDITOR'S NOTE: All Lotus news releases are available on the Internet, via
the Lotus Development Corp. Home Page at http://www.Lotus.com. The Lotus
Home Page is an easy way to find information about Lotus and its business
partners' products and services.

A copy of this release and other company information is also available via
fax by dialing 1-800-57-LOTUS within the U.S. and Canada or 201-946-2336
outside the U.S. and Canada. Questions concerning the service should be
directed to Lotus' corporate communications department at 617-693-5625.

All prices and terms for the US only.
 
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