LotusLive Engage to go live 7th April

Big News!  LotusLive Engage (formerly Lotus Bluehouse) will be launched on 7th April 2009.  From that point it will become a commercial service and be available for purchase.

This text is from an email sent to all LotusLive Beta participants:

We are pleased to share some important news with you – the LotusLive Engage service will officially launch on April 7, 2009. On that date, LotusLive Engage will become a commercially available service.  This means that as of April 7, the LotusLive Engage Beta will come to an end.

We would like to thank you for your participation in the beta program for LotusLive Engage.  Your usage and feedback has helped to shape the service and we look forward to your continued feedback and partnership as we move to the next phase of LotusLive.
The commercial launch of the LotusLive Engage service will mean a couple of changes for you. On April 7, your account will move from a beta account to a trial account. We will also be making some important updates to our subscriber management system at that time, that will give you more Administrative controls over your account.

As a beta participant, we are extending a special 45 day no-cost trial offer to you starting on April 7. Your trial account will have the same great capabilities that you are using today and will include a seamless transition of all your collaboration in progress.

I think this is being handled in a very sensible manner.  From launch day onwards, any organisations wishing to try out Engage will be offered a 30-day trial account. However, for those who have been part of the beta program, this is extended to 45 days.  During that time all beta participants will get the chance to evaluate the subscription options and to decide whether to upgrade to a full Engage account.

However, above all, I’m thrilled that Engage has reached this point – that after so many months, even years, of hard work and dedication by the Bluehouse/Engage team it is ready to be released to the public as a live service.  It has been great to play a very small part in this process as one of the Early Adopter partners, and my congratulations go out to Martha, Tony, Sean and all the team.

Roll on April 7th!