Doc store for later analysis. This month, Microsoft is releasing a smarter Digital Dashboard 2.0. The first version was a raw, if interesting, tool for building business portals. The new toolkit is more evolved, with wrappers for creating reusable components. This should match, and possibly trump, the Notes Release 5 Portal Builder, although, in general, Lotus' integrated development environment is a more-integrated console for producing applications than the broad range of Microsoft tools that you need.
Lotus can still claim superiority in some forward-looking areas.
At the front end, developers will be able to snap in components such as the expertise locator and the content catalog with application templates to create customized browser clients that link into corporate portals. This is breathtaking by current technology standards. Like Microsoft's Web store, Bluejay will be able to contain all types of content. Finally, the iNotes Internet schema supports Outlook as a mail and calendar client on a Domino server, though this doesn't appear to be a feature business users are dying for. The flurry of counterpunches in the knowledge-management arena is remarkable for the actual value it offers customers.