IBM Corp. will release Friday the first vertical application built on its Lotus Workplace platform, Lotus Workplace for Retail Store Operations.
The software and services offering is designed to simplify the administration of in-store processes and reduce training time by improving access to information and collaboration and communication among store employees.
The new offering integrates the IBM Lotus LMS e-learning application and IBM WebSphere Portal for a combined employee training and information sharing environment. Store managers can also use the portal to monitor and respond to changing business conditions. The product includes reporting and information delivery technology from Crystal Decisions Inc.
IBM shipped the first Workplace product, Workplace Messaging, in May. The mail server, built on IBMs WebSphere application server, is designed to bring e-mail to deskless workers. Retail is a key vertical that IBM is targeting for the product, along with manufacturing and transportation.