~2026-32014-41: "Big Iron" used to link to the song "big iron" which is about "big iron" in the sense of a gun. "Big Iron" here is obviously in reference to a mainframe computer, otherwise known as a "big iron", since this is about a software corporation's software and not a defense manufactorer's weapons.

2026-05-29T09:41:22Z

"Big Iron" used to link to the song "big iron" which is about "big iron" in the sense of a gun. "Big Iron" here is obviously in reference to a mainframe computer, otherwise known as a "big iron", since this is about a software corporation's software and not a defense manufactorer's weapons.

New page

{{Use American English|date=October 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2025}}
{{Short description|American technology company (1982–2018)}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Lotus Development Corporation
| logo = Lotus Development Corporation logo.svg
| type = Public
| founded = {{start date and age|1982}}
| defunct = {{end date and age|1995}}
| fate = Acquired by [[IBM]] in 1995; rebranded to Lotus Software in 2003; assets sold to [[HCL Technologies]] in 2018
| hq_location = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| key_people =
| industry = Computer software
| products = [[Lotus 1-2-3]] [[Lotus Agenda]] [[IBM Lotus Connections|Lotus Connections]] [[IBM Lotus Domino|Lotus Domino]] [[IBM Lotus Domino Web Access|Lotus Domino Web Access]] [[IBM Lotus Expeditor|Lotus Expeditor]] [[IBM Lotus Forms|Lotus Forms]] [[IBM Lotus Freelance Graphics|Lotus Freelance Graphics]] [[Lotus Improv]] [[Lotus Magellan]] [[Lotus Manuscript]] [[Lotus Notes]] Lotus Notes Traveler Lotus Quickplace Lotus Quickr [[Lotus Sametime]] [[Lotus SmartSuite]] [[Lotus Symphony for DOS|Lotus Symphony]] [[Lotus Word Pro]] LotusWorks<ref name="Kendall 333">{{cite journal |last=Kendall |first=Robert |date=15 September 1993 |title=LotusWorks 3.0 review |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gasgHhfj-RAC&q=lotusworks+database&pg=PA333 |journal=[[PC Magazine]] |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=333 |access-date=20 February 2018}}</ref> [[Lotus Foundations]] [[IBM Lotus Web Content Management]]
| revenue =
| operating_income =
| net_income =
| num_employees =
| parent = [[HCL Technologies|HCL]]
| subsidiaries =
| website = [https://www.hcltechsw.com/notes Official website]
| footnotes =
}}

'''Lotus Development Corporation''' was an American [[software]] company based in [[Massachusetts]]. Lotus is best known for the [[Lotus 1-2-3]] [[spreadsheet]] application, the first feature-heavy, user-friendly, reliable, and [[WYSIWYG]]-enabled product to become available in the early days of the [[IBM PC]]. It became that platform's [[killer application]] and is widely considered one of the reasons the PC became successful.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.crn.com/it-channel/18818026 |title=Whatever Happened To Lotus 1-2-3? |author-first=Barbara |author-last=Darrow |newspaper=CRN |date=2002-02-01 |access-date=2007-10-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109203535/http://www.crn.com/it-channel/18818026 |archive-date=9 January 2009}}.</ref>

Lotus' next major success was 1989's [[Lotus Notes]], a system that combined the features of [[email]] and [[groupware]] in a single product. Developed in partnership with [[Ray Ozzie]]'s [[Iris Associates]], Notes quickly became a corporate success, taking business away from legacy products running on [[Mainframe|big iron]] like [[IBM OfficeVision]]. [[IBM]] purchased Lotus in 1995 for {{US$|3.5|link=yes}}{{nbsp}}billion (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US-GDP|3.5|1995|r=1}} billion in {{Inflation/year|US}}), primarily to acquire Lotus Notes.<ref>{{Citation| title=IBM takes fight to Microsoft with Lotus Symphony| first=John E.| last=Dunn| publisher=Techworld.com| date=18 September 2007| access-date=2007-12-10| url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/09/18/IBM-takes-fight-to-Microsoft-with-Lotus-Symphony_1.html}}</ref>

IBM maintained the brand and division, renaming it '''Lotus Software''' in 2003, until the 2012–13 time frame, although by that time only two products, Notes and [[Lotus Domino]], were being actively marketed. Domino was a modernized Notes server with additional collaboration features that competed with products like [[SharePoint]]. Although successful for a time, on December 6, 2018, IBM announced the sale of Notes and Domino to [[HCL Technologies|HCL]] for {{US$|1.8|link=no}}{{nbsp}}billion (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US-GDP|1.8|2018|r=1}} billion in {{Inflation/year|US}}).<ref name="techcrunch.com">{{Citation |title=IBM selling Lotus Notes/Domino business to HCL for $1.8B |date=7 December 2018 |url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/12/07/ibm-selling-lotus-notes-domino-business-to-hcl-for-1-8b |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013203613/https://www.infoworld.com/article/07/09/18/IBM-takes-fight-to-Microsoft-with-Lotus-Symphony_1.html |archive-date=2007-10-13}}</ref>

== History ==
Lotus was founded in 1982 by partners [[Mitch Kapor]] and [[Jonathan Sachs]] with backing from [[Sevin Rosen Funds|Ben Rosen]].<ref>{{cite book |title=On-demand Learning: Training in the New Millennium
|url=https://archive.org/details/ondemandlearning00hart |url-access=registration
|isbn=978-0874255393
|author=Arin E. Hartley |date=2000|publisher=Human Resource Development }}</ref> By the end of that year the company offered Executive Briefing System, [[presentation software]] for the [[Apple II]],<ref name="callamaras198211">{{Cite magazine |last=Callamaras |first=Pete |date=November 1982 |title=Executive Briefing System |url=https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1982-11/page/n165/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=2024-12-30 |magazine=BYTE |pages=164–169}}</ref> written by Kapor and Todd Agulnick.<ref name="scannell19871102sidebar">{{Cite magazine |last=Scannell |first=Ed |date=1987-11-02 |title=Lotus's first fruit not 1-2-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mUSIMiurpfYC&pg=PP92 |access-date=2025-06-08 |magazine=Computerworld |page=SR26 |volume=XXI |issue=44}}</ref> Kapor founded Lotus after leaving his post as head of development at [[VisiCorp]], the distributors of the [[VisiCalc]] [[spreadsheet]], and selling all his rights to VisiPlot and VisiTrend to VisiCorp.

Shortly after Kapor left VisiCorp, he and Sachs produced an integrated spreadsheet and graphics program. Even though IBM and VisiCorp had a collaboration agreement whereby VisiCalc was being shipped simultaneously with the PC, Lotus had a superior product. Lotus released [[Lotus 1-2-3]] on January 26, 1983.<ref>{{cite web |website=ZDnet.com |url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/goodbye-lotus-1-2-3/ |title=Goodbye, Lotus 1-2-3}}</ref> The name referred to the three ways the product could be used, as a spreadsheet, graphing tool, and [[database manager]]. The last two functions were less often used in practice, but 1-2-3 was the most powerful spreadsheet program available.

Lotus was almost immediately successful, becoming the world's third largest microcomputer software company in 1983 with $53 million in sales in its first year<ref name="caruso 19840402">{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kC4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA80 | title=Company Strategies Boomerang | work=InfoWorld | date=1984-04-02 | access-date=10 February 2015 | author=Caruso, Denise | pages=80–83}}</ref> mostly through [[Softsel]] and [[ComputerLand]],<ref name="rosen19830222b">{{Cite news |date=1983-02-22 |title=Appendix II; Distribution strategies of selected software vendors |url=https://cdn.oreillystatic.com/radar/r1/02-83.pdf |access-date=2025-06-05 |work=[[The Rosen Electronics Letter]] |pages=21-24}}</ref> compared to its business plan forecast of $1 million in sales. In 1982, [[Jim Manzi]] — a graduate of [[Colgate University]] and [[The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy]] — came to Lotus as a management consultant with [[McKinsey & Company]] and became an employee four months later.<ref name=fu /> In October 1983, the company filed its [[initial public offering]].<ref>{{cite news | last=Staff writer | date=October 7, 1983 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/07/business/finance-new-issues-lotus-public-offering-gets-warm-welcome.html | title=Lotus Public Offering Gets Warm Welcome | work=The New York Times | page=D7}}</ref> In October 1984, Manzi was named president of Lotus, and in April 1986, he was appointed [[CEO]], succeeding Kapor. In July of that same year, he also became chairman of the board. Manzi remained at the head of Lotus until 1995.<ref name=fu>{{cite web |title=History of Lotus Development Corporation |url=https://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/lotus-development-corporation-history/ |publisher=FundingUniverse |access-date=April 17, 2026}}</ref>

===Dominance===
[[File:Lotus_Symphony_Reference_Manual_(1984).jpg|thumb|A book of Lotus Symphony (DOS) Reference Manual, published in 1984]]
As the popularity of the [[personal computer]] grew, Lotus quickly came to dominate the spreadsheet market. Lotus introduced other office products such as [[Ray Ozzie]]'s [[Lotus Symphony for DOS|Symphony]] in 1984 and the [[Lotus Jazz|Jazz]] office suite for the [[Apple Macintosh]] computer in 1985. Jazz did very poorly in the market (in Guy Kawasaki's book ''The Macintosh Way,'' Lotus Jazz was described as being so bad, "even the people who pirated it returned it").<ref>{{cite web |website=Cnet.com
|title=Mitch Kapor remembers Lotus' Macintosh bomb
|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/mitch-kapor-remembers-lotus-macintosh-bomb}}</ref> Also in 1985, Lotus bought [[Software Arts]] and discontinued its VisiCalc program.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=Infoworld |date=June 24, 1985 |page=20 |title=Lotus acquires Software Arts
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ES8EAAAAMBAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=Infoworld
|title=VisiCalc discontinued
|date=June 2, 1986 |page=8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SC8EAAAAMBAJ}}</ref>

By that year [[Forrester Research]] considered Lotus, [[Ashton-Tate]], Microsoft, and [[Borland]] the "Big Four" of personal computer software.<ref name="forbes19851021">{{Cite magazine |last=Forbes |first=Jim |date=1985-10-21 |title=Corporate Mergers Offer Clout |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jy8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA24 |access-date=2025-03-16 |magazine=InfoWorld |page=24}}</ref> Softletter estimated that in 1986 the "Big Three" of Lotus (9%, more than $275 million), Microsoft (8%), and Ashton-Tate (6%) together had 23% of total revenue of the top 100 microcomputer software companies. Of the 15 million Americans who used a personal computer in their job, a quarter used 1-2-3.<ref name="computerworld19871102">{{Cite magazine |date=1987-11-02 |title=Lining up behind three visionaries |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mUSIMiurpfYC&pg=PP69 |access-date=2025-06-08 |magazine=Computerworld |page=SR3 |volume=XXI |issue=44}}</ref> Computer Intelligence estimated in 1987 that Lotus had 85% of the [[Fortune 1000]] PC financial analysis market, with Microsoft second at 6%. It also estimated a 20% share of the presentation software market, second to Ashton-Tate and ahead of Microsoft's 6%.{{r|computerworld19871102interview}} A 1987 ''[[Computerworld]]'' survey gave Lotus a B grade for technology and product support, B+ for management, C+ for customer relations, and B− for marketing. Customers said that the company was slow to upgrade products, documentation and seminars were good but telephone support was poor, management had succeeded in defeating many competitors, customer relations had improved but [[copy protection]] was still the top complaint, and Jazz's failure showed that Lotus's ability to market products other than 1-2-3 and Symphony was unknown.<ref name="computerworld19871102reportcard">{{Cite magazine |date=1987-11-02 |title=Rating the Big Three |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mUSIMiurpfYC&pg=PP70 |access-date=2025-06-08 |magazine=Computerworld |page=SR4 |volume=XXI |issue=44}}</ref>

In the late 1980s, Lotus developed [[Lotus Magellan]], a file management and indexing utility.<ref name=fallows199708>{{cite magazine
|magazine=The Atlantic
|title=Zoot! |date=August 1997 |author=James Fallows
|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1997/08/zoot/376931}}</ref> In this period, Manuscript, a word processor, [[Lotus Agenda]], an innovative personal information manager (PIM) which flopped, and [[Lotus Improv|Improv]], a ground-breaking modeling package (and spreadsheet) for the [[NeXT]] platform, were released. Improv also flopped, and none of these products significantly impacted the market.

==="Look and feel" lawsuits===
{{main|Look and Feel}}
Lotus was involved in several lawsuits, of which the most significant was the "[[look and feel]]" cases which started in 1987. Lotus sued [[Paperback Software International|Paperback Software]] and Mosaic for copyright infringement, false and misleading advertising, and [[unfair competition]] over their low-cost clones of 1-2-3, VP Planner and Twin, and sued [[Borland]] over its Quattro spreadsheet. This led [[Richard Stallman]], founder of the [[Free Software Foundation]], to found the [[League for Programming Freedom]] (LPF) and hold protests outside Lotus Development offices.<ref name=NewsW>{{cite magazine
|magazine=Newsweek |date=August 27, 1990 |author1=John Scwartz
|author2=Debra Rosenberg |title=Computing the Cost of Copyright: Programmers fight "Look and Feel" lawsuits}}</ref> Paperback and Mosaic lost and went out of business; Borland won and survived. The LPF filed an ''[[amicus curiae]]'' [[brief (law)|brief]] in the Borland case.<ref>{{Citation| url=http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/6805/articles/int-prop/lotus/lpf-amicus2.txt| title=Brief of Amicus Curiae: League for Programming Freedom in Support of Respondent| last1=Moglen| first1=Eben| last2=Karlan| first2=Pamela S.| year=1995| access-date=2007-12-10| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118180307/http://www-swiss.ai.mit.edu/6805/articles/int-prop/lotus/lpf-amicus2.txt| archive-date=2007-11-18| url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Diversification and acquisition by IBM===
Lotus began its diversification from the desktop software business with its 1984 strategic founding investment in Ray Ozzie's Iris Associates, the creator of its [[Lotus Notes]] groupware platform. As a result of this early speculative move, Lotus gained significant experience in network-based communications years before other competitors in the PC world had even started thinking about networked computing or the [[Internet]]. Lotus initially brought Lotus Notes to market in 1989 and later reinforced its market presence by acquiring [[cc:Mail]] in 1991.<ref>{{Cite news|date=12 Feb 1991|title=Lotus to add electronic mail unit|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/02/12/business/company-news-lotus-to-add-electronic-mail-unit.html|access-date=7 July 2021}}</ref>

During the 1980s Lotus remained dependent on retail customers<ref name="iw19891013">{{Cite magazine |last1=Watt |first1=Peggy |last2=Scannell |first2=Ed |date=1989-10-13 |title=Lotus to Unveil Notes Groupware Tool |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA13 |access-date=2025-06-14 |magazine=InfoWorld |page=13 |volume=11 |issue=44}}</ref> of 1-2-3 and Symphony. ''[[Computerworld]]'' noted in 1987 that "the company has announced or acquired nearly a dozen products ... over the last two years, but none accounts for more than a few percentage points of the company's yearly revenue". The magazine added that, according to Lotus, "The spreadsheet is a hook ... into other major application markets such as word processing, data base management, graphics and communications".<ref name="scannell19871102">{{Cite magazine |last=Scannell |first=Ed |date=1987-11-02 |title=Lotus's hopes bound to spreadsheet juggernaut |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mUSIMiurpfYC&pg=PP89 |access-date=2025-06-08 |magazine=Computerworld |page=SR23 |volume=XXI |issue=44}}</ref> That year Manzi said that Lotus would release software for IBM's [[OS/2]] operating system before [[Microsoft Windows]], and his company announced 1-2-3 for [[IBM mainframe]].<ref name="computerworld19871102interview">{{Cite interview |last=Gates |first=Bill |interviewer=Paul Gillin |title=The great software debate |last2=Manzi |first2=Jim |last3=Esber |first3=Ed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mUSIMiurpfYC&pg=PP73 |access-date=2025-06-08 |work=Computerworld |issue=44 |date=1987-11-02 |page=SR7 |volume=XXI}}</ref>

In the 1990s, to compete with Microsoft's Windows applications, Lotus had to buy in products such as Ami Pro (word processor),<ref>"Ami Pro, also called just Ami initially, was a word processor sold by Samna and later Lotus Software, where it became Lotus Word Pro." {{cite web
|title=AmiPro 3.x |url=https://winworldpc.com/product/amipro/3x |website=WinWorldPC.com}}</ref><ref>"There is much to recommend Ami Pro 2.0, the latest version of Lotus Corp.'s high-powered word processing program for Windows. {{cite news |newspaper=LA Times
|title=Lotus Ami Pro Program Is Hard to Beat |date=October 24, 1991
|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-24-fi-459-story.html}}</ref> Approach (database), and Threadz, which became [[Lotus Organizer]]. Several applications (1-2-3, Freelance Graphics, Ami Pro, Approach, and [[Lotus Organizer]]) were bundled together under the name [[Lotus SmartSuite]]. Although SmartSuite was bundled cheaply with many PCs and may initially have been more popular than [[Microsoft Office]], Lotus quickly lost its dominance in the desktop applications market with the transition from 16- to [[32-bit]] applications running on [[Windows 95]]. In large part due to its focusing much of its development resources on a suite of applications for the commercially unsuccessful OS/2, Lotus was late in delivering its suite of 32-bit products and failed to capitalize on the transition to the new version of Windows. The last significant new release was the SmartSuite Millennium Edition, released in 1999.<ref>{{cite web
|website=CNN.com
|date=December 9, 1999
|title=8 easy Y2K fixes
|url=http://archives.cnn.com/1999/TECH/computing/12/09/y2k.fixes.idg/index.html
|access-date=August 1, 2018
|archive-date=June 25, 2021
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210625122220/http://archives.cnn.com/1999/TECH/computing/12/09/y2k.fixes.idg/index.html
|url-status=dead
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?infotype=OC%26subtype=NA%26htmlfid=897/ENUS5724-F77%26appname=totalstorage
|title=IBM Lotus SmartSuite|website=[[IBM]] |date=2017-07-13}}</ref>

All new development of the suite was ended in 2000, with ongoing maintenance being moved overseas. The last update release was in 2014.<ref>{{cite web
|title=IBM Lotus 1-2-3, Lotus SmartSuite and Lotus Organizer
|url=https://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21639384 |date=October 26, 2014}}</ref>

In 1994, Lotus acquired Iris Associates. By then large companies bought Notes for their employees,<ref name="noteshistory">{{Cite web |date=2003-09-29 |title=The History of Notes and Domino |url=http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/library/ls-NDHistory/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050112024610/http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/library/ls-NDHistory/ |archive-date=2005-01-12 |access-date=October 24, 2011 |website=IBM developerWorks |publisher=IBM}}</ref> Lotus's dominant groupware position attracted IBM, which needed to make a strategic move away from host-based messaging products and to establish a stronger presence in client-server computing, but it also soon attracted competition from [[Microsoft Exchange Server]].<ref name=forbes19980810>{{cite magazine
|magazine=[[Forbes]]
|title=The decline and fall of Lotus
|url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/1998/0810/6203106a.html
|date=1998-08-10}}</ref> In the second quarter of 1995, IBM launched a hostile bid<ref name=AcquiredGone>{{cite web
|title=IBM offloads Notes and Domino to India's HCL Technologies
|website=TheRegister.co.uk
|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/10/30/ibm_hcl_notes_domino_partnership
|author=Simon Sharwood |date=October 30, 2017}}</ref> with a $60-per-share tender offer when Lotus' stock was only trading at $32. Jim Manzi looked for potential white knights and forced IBM to increase its bid to $64.50 per share for a $3.5 billion buyout of Lotus in July 1995.<ref>{{Citation| first=Barbara| last=Darrow| title=Jim Manzi| date=12 December 2003| publisher=CRN.com
|url=http://www.crn.com/sections/special/hof/hof03.jhtml;?articleId=18825870&_requestid=226714}}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> On October 11, 1995, Manzi announced his resignation from what had become the Lotus Development division of IBM; he left with stock worth $78 million.

===Assimilation of name, website, and branding===
{{plain image with caption|Lotus Software wordmark.svg|Logo following rebrand to Lotus Software in 2003}}
While IBM allowed Lotus to develop, market, and sell its products under its own brand name, a restructuring in January 2001<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lotus restructuring may lead to tighter IBM control|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/lotus-restructuring-may-lead-to-tighter-ibm-control/|access-date=2020-07-14|website=CNET|language=en}}</ref> brought it more in line with its parent company, IBM. IBM moved vital marketing and management functions from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to IBM's New York office.

Gradually, the Lotus.com website changed its "About us" section to eliminate references to "Lotus Development Corporation". The Lotus.com web page in 2001 clearly showed the company as "Lotus Development Corporation" with "a word from its CEO" by 2002, the "About us" section was removed from its site menu, and the Lotus logo was replaced with the IBM logo. By 2003 an "About Lotus" link returned to the Lotus.com page on its sidebar, but this time identifying the company as "Lotus software from IBM" and showing in its contact information "Lotus Software, IBM Software Group". By 2008 the Lotus.com domain name stopped showing a standalone site, instead redirecting to www.ibm.com/software/lotus, and in 2012 the site discontinued all reference to Lotus Software in favor of IBM Collaboration Solutions.

IBM discontinued development of IBM Lotus Symphony in 2012 with the final release of version 3.0.1, moving future development effort to Apache OpenOffice, and donating the source code to the Apache Software Foundation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/07/14/ibm_symphony_goes_to_asf/ |title=IBM crams Lotus Symphony back into OpenOffice |author=Gavin Clarke |date=July 14, 2011 |work=The Register |access-date=October 8, 2013}}</ref> Later that year, IBM announced it was discontinuing the Lotus brand<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eweek.com/enterprise-apps/ibm-drops-lotus-brand-takes-notes-and-domino-forward/ |title=IBM Drops Lotus Brand, Takes Notes and Domino Forward |author=Darryl K. Taft |date=November 17, 2012 |work=Eweek |access-date=October 8, 2013}}</ref> and on March 13, 2013, IBM announced the availability of IBM Notes and Domino 9.0 Social Edition,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?subtype=ca&infotype=an&appname=iSource&supplier=897&letternum=ENUS213-085 |title=IBM Notes and Domino 9.0 Social Edition puts you on a solid path to becoming a social business |date=March 12, 2013 |work=IBM United States Software Announcement 213-085 |publisher=IBM |access-date=October 8, 2013}}</ref> replacing prior versions of IBM Lotus Notes and IBM Lotus Domino and marking the end of Lotus as an active brand.

On December 6, 2018, IBM announced the selling of Lotus Software/Domino to HCL for $1.8 billion.<ref name="techcrunch.com"/>

==Corporate culture==
[[Image:MitchKapor.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Mitch Kapor]]]]
Lotus's first employee was Janet Axelrod, who created the Human Resources organization and played a central role with senior management, she eventually hired [[Freada Klein]] as the first director of employee relations.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=A Lifelong Activist |url=https://barnard.edu/magazine/spring-2022/lifelong-activist |magazine=Barnard Magazine |date=2022 |access-date=2026-04-21}}</ref>

In 1995 Lotus had over 4,000 employees worldwide; IBM's acquisition of Lotus was greeted with apprehension by many Lotus employees, who feared that the corporate culture of "Big Blue" would smother their creativity. To the surprise of many employees and journalists, IBM initially adopted a very hands-off, laissez-faire attitude toward its new acquisition.<ref>{{cite web |title=Post-Merger Integration: How I.B.M. and Lotus Work Together |url=https://www.strategy-business.com/article/18930 |work=Strategy+Business |access-date=April 17, 2026}}</ref>

What most did not know was that Lotus president, Jim Manzi, made IBM president Lou Gerstner sign a two year moratorium that said he would make no sweeping changes to Lotus operations for a minimum of two years.<ref>{{cite web |title=Post-Merger Integration: How I.B.M. and Lotus Work Together |url=https://www.strategy-business.com/article/18930 |work=Strategy+Business |access-date=April 17, 2026}}</ref> It gave a false sense of acceptance of the modern corporate culture and the minute the moratorium was up, the big, blue, bureaucratic culture quickly overwhelmed it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.strategy-business.com/article/18930?gko=264ad|title=Post-Merger Integration: How I.B.M. and Lotus Work Together|last=Rifkin|first=Glenn|website=strategy+business|access-date=2020-03-02}}</ref>

However, by 2000 the assimilation of Lotus was well underway. While the mass employee defections that IBM feared did not materialize, many long-time Lotus employees did complain about the transition to IBM's culture—IBM's [[employee benefits]] programs, in particular, were singled out as inferior to Lotus's very progressive programs.<ref>{{cite web |title=History of Lotus Development Corporation |url=https://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/lotus-development-corporation-history/ |website=FundingUniverse |access-date=2026-04-21}}</ref>

Lotus's headquarters in Cambridge were initially divided into two buildings, the Lotus Development Building (LDB) on the banks of the [[Charles River]] and the Rogers Street building, adjacent to the CambridgeSide Galleria. However, in 2001, President and General Manager Al Zollar decided to keep the lease of LDB. The subsequent migration of employees across the street (and into home offices) generally coincided with the final departure of employees from the company. Later, IBM's offices at 1 Rogers St supported mobile employees, the [[Thomas J. Watson Research Center|Watson Research Center]] on [[User interface]], and [[IBM WebSphere DataPower SOA Appliances|IBM DataPower]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2026}}

==Products==

IBM sponsored the "Lotus Greenhouse", a community web site featuring software from IBM and its business partners.

===Discontinued products===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Lotus Connections]]
* [[Lotus Domino]]
* [[Lotus Domino Web Access]]
* [[Lotus Expeditor]]
* [[Lotus Forms]]
* [[Lotus Foundations]]
* [[LotusLive]]
* [[Lotus Mashups]]
* [[Lotus Notes]]
* [[Lotus Notes Traveler]]
* IBM Lotus Quickr, which replaces [[Lotus QuickPlace]]
* [[Lotus Sametime]]
* [[IBM Lotus Web Content Management]]
{{div col end}}
* [[Lotus SmartSuite]] including [[Lotus 1-2-3]], [[Lotus Word Pro]], [[Lotus Freelance Graphics]], [[Lotus Approach]], [[Lotus Organizer]] (discontinued on 30-Sep-2014)<ref>[http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?subtype=ca&infotype=an&appname=iSource&supplier=897&letternum=ENUS913-091 Software withdrawal and discontinuance of support: Lotus SmartSuite, Lotus Organizer and Lotus 123]</ref>
* Lotus Domino Document Manager [http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21284609 (discontinued on 30-Sep-2012)]
* [[Lotus Agenda]]
* [[cc:Mail|Lotus cc:Mail]]
* Lotus HAL
* [[Lotus Impress]]
* [[Lotus Improv]]
* [[Lotus Jazz]]
* [[Lotus Magellan]]
* [[Lotus Manuscript]]
* [[Lotus Marketplace]]
* [[Lotus Symphony for DOS|Lotus Symphony]] (DOS version)
* [[IBM Lotus Symphony]]<ref name="PCWorld">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.pcworld.com/article/248849/coming_soon_an_ibm_edition_of_apache_openoffice.html|access-date=11 April 2012|title=Coming Soon: An 'IBM Edition' of Apache OpenOffice|first=Katherine|last=Noyes|magazine=[[PCWorld (magazine)|PCWorld]]|date=27 January 2012}}</ref>
* LotusWorks<ref name="Kendall 333">{{cite journal |last=Kendall |first=Robert |date=15 September 1993 |title=LotusWorks 3.0 review |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gasgHhfj-RAC&q=lotusworks+database&pg=PA333 |journal=[[PC Magazine]] |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=333 |access-date=20 February 2018}}</ref> (formerly AlphaWorks, bought from Alpha Software in May 1990)<ref>{{cite journal |last=Perrators |first=Ed |date=August 1991 |title=Integrated Software review: LotusWorks 1.0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JkmqysqcLI0C&q=lotusworks+2.0&pg=PT289 |journal=[[PC Magazine]] |pages=276 |access-date=20 February 2018}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.ibm.com/software/lotus/ Official website]
{{Finance links historical
| name = Lotus Development Corp.
| sec_cik = 0000711761
}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.lotus.com Lotus.com Official website] (Archive)
* [http://purl.umn.edu/107619 Oral history interview with Jonathan Sachs] discusses the development of Lotus 1-2-3, [[Charles Babbage Institute]], University of Minnesota

{{Lotus Development}}
{{IBM}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Software companies established in 1982]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1982]]
[[Category:Lotus Development| ]]
[[Category:IBM acquisitions]]
[[Category:Companies based in Cambridge, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Software companies based in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1982 establishments in Massachusetts]]
[[Category:1995 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:Defunct software companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Former IBM subsidiaries]]
[[Category:Defunct computer companies based in Massachusetts]]

Lotus Development - Revision history