Lotus Enhances Program For Business Partners Providing Messaging, Internet
and Groupware Solutions

New Worldwide Program Helps Customers Find the Right Business Partner for
their Needs, Offers Partners More Opportunities to Leverage Lotus
Technology

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 29, 1996 -- Lotus Development Corp. today announced
that it is enhancing its industry-leading worldwide Business Partners
Program with options tailored to the variety of business models within the
Lotus Partner community. More than 12,000 Lotus Business Partners are now
able to differentiate their skills through three levels of participation
and seven tracks geared to their core competencies, making it easier for
customers to identify the Business Partners needed for their specific
requirements. The new program includes specific technical and marketing
initiatives around key technology areas including Lotus cc:Mail and Lotus
Notes messaging, Internet, Lotus Notes Release 4 and Lotus Components.

Lotus Business Partners have led the industry in delivering
Internet-integrated workgroup and messaging solutions. This
next-generation program enables Lotus Partners to better leverage their
unique in-market experience in harnessing technologies for real world
business applications. Customers will benefit from the new program because
it offers consistent worldwide criteria for Partner measurement and
recognition, which makes it easier for them to select Partners in a
certain market area or with a certain expertise. Partners are able to get
information and services geared to their specific core competencies
through the Professional Developer, Consultant, Integrator, Reseller,
Education Provider, Support Provider and Network Provider tracks.

"The explosive growth of messaging, groupware and the Internet has put our
Partners in an enviable position," said Don Bulens, vice president of
Lotus' Worldwide Business Partners Program. "There's no substitute for
their in-market experience and entrepreneurial zeal, coupled with the best
technologies in the market."

"There is limitless opportunity in client/server applications, messaging
and the Internet," said Mark Dalen, president of Enterprise ArchiTechs, a
Lotus Business Partner. "Lotus Notes and related technologies are at the
intersection of these three hot areas, and Lotus' Business Partners
Program is helping us seize this opportunity."

Seven Different Business Models

The new program offers seven different tracks designed to meet Business
Partners' specific needs:

Professional Developers -- Create shrink-wrapped or licensed software
products including utilities and tools, applications built with Lotus
products, and products integrated with Lotus technologies.

Consultants -- Provide business process or technology consulting, as well
as custom application development.

Integrators -- Deliver the networking, messaging and platform
infrastructure, as well as software integration, to companies who embrace
Lotus technologies.

Resellers -- Market and sell Lotus products, adding value in the areas of
pricing, availability and fulfillment. Resellers often provide pre-sales
support and services to their customers as well.

Education Providers -- Lotus Desktop Training Centers (LDTC's) and Lotus
Authorized Education Centers (LAEC's) who provide training on Lotus
technologies. LDTC's train users of Lotus applications. LAEC's provide
technical and certification-based training to computer professionals who
create, install, and support Lotus solutions.

Support Providers -- Support the growing number of companies using Lotus
technologies by delivering a wide range of technical support and
services.

Network Providers -- Offer a commercial public network infrastructure and
services using Lotus technologies, including, for example, Internet
Service Providers.

Levels of Participation

Partners will be able to participate in the worldwide Program on three
distinct levels -- Member, Qualified and Premium. The levels differentiate
Partners by their degree of experience:

Members -- Lotus offers Partners who are interested in building their
skills in Lotus products and technologies an opportunity to participate in
the program at the Member level. Members receive copies of Lotus software
via CD and the Internet, applications to help run their businesses, the
opportunity to be connected electronically to Lotus and the opportunity to
participate in workshops and satellite broadcasts that focus on
time-sensitive technical issues related to developing and integrating
solutions with Notes, Notes Mail, cc:Mail, SmartSuite and Lotus
Components.

Qualified Partners -- The Qualified Partner level is geared to Partners who
have demonstrated knowledge and commitment to Lotus technology. Qualified
Partners are required to use Lotus products internally, and have
technically trained personnel such as Certified Lotus Professionals (CLP)
on staff, or certified commercial products that have met Lotus standards.
Qualified Business Partners are among the first to receive pre-release
software, have the right to use the Lotus Business Partner logo, have the
opportunity to participate in a broad range of marketing programs, and
receive sales leads from Lotus.

Premium Partners -- The Premium Partner is reserved for Partners who
demonstrate the highest level of commitment to Lotus and Lotus
technologies. Once a Business Partner achieves Premium status, the Lotus
relationship grows closer by involving the Partner in a wider array of
sales, marketing and technical support benefits, and in some instances, an
account executive to manage the relationship. As a Premium Partner, there
are options to participate in cooperative marketing programs.

Commitment to Partner Community Through Unique Program Offerings

Lotus is reinforcing its commitment to the Partner community through
marketing and enablement initiatives that are unique to Lotus' Business
Partners Program. These include:

NotesStore -- A unique type of channel helping hundreds of Lotus Business
Partners reach a worldwide market for their Notes-based products. A joint
venture of Lotus and Stream International, NotesStore is an electronic
marketplace from which customers can directly purchase Partner products.
NotesStore offers Partners a full range of services including: media
duplication, documentation, packaging and assembly of Notes applications,
distribution and fulfillment of applications to end-users, application
testing and certification and outsourced telephone support.

Lotus Notes Migration and Coexistence Centers -- Briefing centers in
Dallas, Texas and Boeblingen, Germany will be providing Business Partners
with information to assist in developing services for customers migrating
to or coexisting with Notes R4 from a wide range of platforms and
products.

Technology-Focused Enablement Campaigns -- Programs focused on the areas of
messaging, the Internet, Lotus Components and Notes Release 4, enabling
Partners to utilize Lotus technology in its business solutions. The
campaigns are geared towards helping a Lotus Business Partner maximize
their expertise in each of the three most exciting market opportunities:
client/server business applications, client/server messaging solutions and
Internet/Intranet solutions. They will constitute a phased approach to
delivery of training, support, pre-release and beta software, sales tips
and techniques, on-going technical forums and marketing programs.

Internet-Focused Programs -- Customization of services with elements to
provide Partners with opportunities to leverage Notes and Lotus Internet
technologies to create Internet and Web-based solutions. These include
Internet developers conferences, branding programs that promote Internet
solutions created with Notes, and promotion of Partner products and
services via the Lotus Web site.

Since Lotus' merger with IBM, Lotus Business Partners have benefited
through the increased access to IBM marketing, sales and technical
programs. The leads generated from IBM's major marketing campaigns in 1996
will be directed at the industry of Lotus Business Partners that support
Notes, cc:Mail and SmartSuite. Given IBM's new channel-centric mandate,
IBM is focused on helping to drive demand for Lotus' Business Partners.

"With a clear focus and innovative programs, Lotus has built a formidable
industry around Notes," said Matt Cain, vice president of workgroup
computing strategies at META Group. "The combination of IBM's resources
and Lotus' well-developed program allows Lotus to capitalize effectively
on the vibrant market for client/server and Web applications."

Availability and Pricing

As of May 6, 1996, the new Business Partners Program will be launched in
North America. For the rest of the world, the program will be phased in
starting in June in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa,
Australia and New Zealand, and in the second half of the year in the
remaining parts of Asia Pacific and Japan. The base membership fee is
$1195 (U.S.) or a local currency equivalent. After the first year, the
annual renewal fee is $895 (U.S.) per year. There are additional fees
associated with the Education Provider, Support Provider and Network
Provider tracks.

For additional information about the worldwide Lotus Business Partners
Program, please call Lotus at 1-800-START-SMart (1-800-782-7876) or
617-693-3773 in North America, contact your local Lotus office or view
Lotus' home page at http://www.lotus.com/home/partners.htm.

The Lotus Business Partners Program supports the worldwide industry of more
than 12,000 independent companies that develop and market Lotus-based
products and services. The mission of the Business Partners Program is to
advance the industry around Lotus products by attracting, empowering,
leveraging and differentiating Business Partners to yield the highest
return for Lotus' customers, Partners and the company itself. The
tremendous interest in messaging, the Internet/Intranets and client/server
applications from customers throughout the world has created a large
opportunity for Partners who can help apply these technologies towards
organizational effectiveness. Through the Business Partners Program, Lotus
provides software, information, tools, support and marketing programs to
enable dedicated, highly motivated Partners to swiftly engage and succeed
in bringing differentiated products and services to market. Lotus gives
its Partners unprecedented access to program resources and the community
of other Lotus Business Partners and customers through a Notes-based
worldwide electronic network which leverages both Internet and X.25
connections.

Lotus 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 which allow
users to access and communicate information in ways never before possible,
both within and beyond organizational boundaries. Lotus now markets its
products in more than 80 countries worldwide and provides numerous
professional consulting, support and education services through the Lotus
Services Group.

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.

Please Note: Questions about the content or currency of this press release
should be directed to your local IBM representative.
 
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