Lotus Soft-Switch Announces New Messaging Management Tools

Lotus MessageView and Lotus Mail Monitor Expand Capabilities of Internet
and Enterprise-Wide Messaging Management

ANAHEIM, Calif., April 29, 1996 -- Lotus Development Corp., today announced
Lotus MessageView, a standards-based, Internet and enterprise-wide
messaging management tool, and Release 2 of Lotus Mail Monitor, an
administration tool for monitoring message flow.

MessageView tracks messages and monitors all messaging systems that support
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and Message and Directory
Management (MADMAN) protocols. By supporting SNMP and MADMAN, MessageView
is one of the first message management tools to adopt and implement
MADMAN, an emerging Internet standard. MessageView also manages Lotus
Messaging Switch (LMS) functions and performs network auto-discovery and
mapping. MessageView operates across heterogeneous mail environments
regardless of vendor or product platforms.

MessageView, when used in conjunction with Lotus NotesView and Lotus
cc:Mail View, provides administrators with a comprehensive management
solution for a heterogeneous mail environment including Soft-Switch,
Notes, cc:Mail and other vendor products.

Mail Monitor Release 2 is designed to monitor mail flow among legacy
systems, multi-vendor messaging networks, or systems like Microsoft
Exchange which do not support SNMP or MADMAN protocols. Mail Monitor
Release 2 probes components of electronic mail networks by connecting with
an enterprise mail backbone of either LMS or Soft-Switch Central switches
and their associated connections. By probing from the center to the very
edge of a mail network, Mail Monitor detects and reports failures of mail
network components and determines message delivery speeds.

"Lotus Soft-Switch remains the leader in developing robust and flexible
network messaging management tools that give administrators ultimate
control of their disparate messaging systems," said Michael Zisman,
executive vice president and CEO, Lotus Development Corp. "By providing
information about the state of all nodes and links in a mail network,
MessageView and Mail Monitor let administrators be more proactive in
heading off problems and efficiently address critical system issues."

MessageView By using SNMP and MADMAN protocols to separate management
applications from the messaging components, MessageView allows remote and
cross-system management of infrastructure components from a single
workstation; including hardware, lower level network protocols and
application layer messaging components. Running on Windows 95 or Windows
NT, it operates with HP OpenView and can be installed on multiple desktops
or laptops. The integration with HP OpenView allows users to capitalize on
other capabilities of the network, such as alarm handling. Other features
of MessageView include:

* Message Tracking, a feature that provides the administrator with the
status of any message known to the LMS system. Message Tracking can be
query based on various message strings such as originator or recipient
address and report details of messages that meet the selected criteria.
MessageView does this through native database support in the switch,
rather than a much slower log search.

* World Wide Web support, a feature being developed that allows users to
view the status of messages via any HTML/Web browser, in much the way
senders of overnight delivery packages can track package status by using
the World Wide Web.

* Message Transfer Agent (MTA) monitoring allows management of any MADMAN
compliant messaging application that supports the network services and
mail monitoring Management Information Base (MIB). Common extensions to
these MIBs, such as those defined by the Electronic Messaging Association
(EMA), are fully supported.

* Performance monitoring allows MADMAN statistics to be used in various
ways to create views telling administrators how well the system is
performing.

* LMS management, a feature that provides management and monitoring of each
LMS component as well as the external connections it establishes. It
allows starting and stopping of LMS components, including the core switch
and individual MTAs.

Mail Monitor Release 2 Implemented as a PC/Windows, Windows 95 or NT
application, Mail Monitor Release 2 is a software only solution that can
be configured to support TCP/IP Ethernet, SNA/SDLC, or SNA/Token Ring
communications to LMS or Soft-Switch Central.

"More than 20,000 users operate among various messaging platforms at Deere
& Company. In a network as diverse as ours, Mail Monitor plays a key
role," said Chris Benson, central IT support for mail at Deere & Company.
"We are favorably impressed with the new features in Mail Monitor Release
2. The new GUI is a vast improvement and functions like the event handling
tool make Mail Monitor easy to use and configure."

Enhancements to Mail Monitor Release 2 include:

* New GUI - Displays a topology map of the messaging network, customizable
by the administrator. A color indicates the status of each node. At a
glance, the administrator can assess the status of the entire messaging
infrastructure and take immediate action if needed.

* Audible alerts - Allows generation of audible alerts when messaging nodes
change.

* Remote support options - Flexible pager notification and dial-up access
allow the administrator to proactively manage the network off-site, such
as from a hotel or home.

* Advanced message probes - Probes message flow while mail is moving, and
supports any messaging protocol or product. Mail Monitor probes most
vendors' messaging servers and works with other Lotus products, like
Notes, that contain built-in Mail Monitor reflectors, which can
proactively return probe information to Mail Monitor. This allows mail
flow to be monitored through to the server or post office. Probes may even
flow beyond the enterprise, to check whether a value added network
connection is functioning or if mail can flow to a server or post office
outside the enterprise.

* Internet mail - Verifies speed and message delivery of SMTP mail.

* Analysis and report generation - Generates real time or log reports of
mail flow, network performance and backbone or network outages.

* Scaleability and Windows 95, NT support - Allows management of more
messaging nodes, and includes "drag and drop" and Microsoft Explorer
support.

Availability

MessageView and Mail Monitor ship in Q3 of 1996. Pricing has not been
announced at this time.

For more information about Lotus products, visit Lotus' home page --
http://www.Lotus.com -- or call Lotus at 1-800-343-5414.

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. The company also provides numerous support services, both
from its consulting 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.

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