CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—IBM on Tuesday unveiled a variety of new collaboration products and services here, mostly centered around its Lotus Workplace platform.

The company announced a new role-based solution: IBM Workplace for Branch Banking. The package adds collaborative capabilities from Workplace and WebSphere Portal to retail banking applications. The company also announced Version 2.5 of its IBM Workplace for Business Controls and Reporting, which provides new customization, integration and notifications capabilities.

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In addition, IBM announced that its Lotus Web Conferencing software, formerly called Sametime, was now available as a hosted subscription service, provided by IBM Global Services.

Click here to read about IBM’s tools for Workplace development.

IBM introduced Workplace Services Express, a new team collaboration offering for SMBs (small-to-medium-sized businesses). The software includes integrated collaborative team spaces, document management and instant messaging, while providing access to existing e-mail, calendaring tools and address books.

Workplace Services Express can be run and administered from a single server, the company said, with users able to customize their work environment and provision team workspaces.

IBM intends Workplace Services Express for companies with up to 750 users. Server- and user-based pricing models are available, IBM said.

IBM recently said customers of Lotus Notes and Domino Groupware can look forward to integration with its Workplace collaboration software. Click here. to read more.

At the rollout event, Ambuj Goyal, general manager of IBM’s Lotus Software division, said IBM had counted 1 million active seats of Workplace at the end of September. He said IBM was focused on supporting “people-centric processes” that helped users make “more-informed decisions and better decisions faster.”

“It’s not about improving individual or team productivity, it’s about improving business productivity,” Goyal said.

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