As Jeff is fond of saying, Lotus could have taken the existing desktop apps and hammered them into smaller packages. That probably would have been easier, dressing the same apps in different garbs. But it's not the right vision. Real visionaries don't cling to the status quo. They aren't wedded to a computing model that serves their bottom line more than it serves their customers.
Real visionaries listen and respond.
But they also anticipate and innovate. So with eSuite Lotus conceived and delivered Java-based software that's right for a whole new era. Lotus is part of IBM today because of its capacity for leadership. Together we're extending it. Now all of this is important, but it's just the price of entry.