One in a while IBM takes a scalpel to the set of products it sells and adjusts the offerings that are marketed to new customers. That’s just part of the cycle of product management…  The changes haven’t been communicated particularly broadly (though they are mentioned on the Greenhouse), so I thought it was worth a blog post.
This month we’ve seen an announcement of the demise of a couple of products, replaced by others in the line. First up, Mashup Center and Lotus Mashups:
Effective on the dates listed below, IBM® will withdraw from marketing, part numbers from the following product releases licensed under the IBM International Program License Agreement:
5724-V06 1.0.0 08/07/12 IBM InfoSphere® MashupHub V1.0.0
5724-V06 1.1.0 08/07/12 IBM InfoSphere MashupHub V1.1.0
5724-V06 2.0.0 08/07/12 IBM InfoSphere MashupHub V2.0.0
5724-U69 1.0.0 08/07/12 IBM Lotus® Mashups V1.0.0
5724-U69 1.1.0 08/07/12 IBM Lotus Mashups V1.1.0
5724-U69 2.0.0 08/07/12 IBM Lotus Mashups V2.0.0
5724-V33 2.0.0 08/07/12 IBM Mashup Center V2.0.0
5724-V33 3.0.0 08/07/12 IBM Mashup Center V3.0.0
Mashup Center is not being directly replaced, but the features and functions within it have been subsumed into WebSphere Portal, and hence customers and partners are recommended to purchase that solution instead. MashupHub is replaced by IBM Web Experience Factory Designer.
Secondly, Lotus Forms Turbo:
Effective on the dates listed below, IBM® will withdraw from marketing, part numbers from the following product release(s) licensed under the IBM International Program License Agreement:
5724-W05 3.5.0 05/08/12 IBM Lotus® Forms Turbo V3.5.0
5724-W05 3.5.1 05/08/12 IBM Lotus Forms Turbo V3.5.1
In this case, the replacement is an almost direct one, with IBM Forms Server, which has always been the more comprehensive offering, albeit at a higher price.
In all cases support for the withdrawn products will continue for a significant period of time, it is just that they won’t be marketed or be available to purchase from IBM. Check the announcement letters for more information.
These changes also see the removal of two more Lotus-branded solutions, leaving just a few remaining, principally Lotus Notes, Domino and Quickr.
