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Domino groupware from Lotus Development Corp. is the premier groupware software on the market right now, beating its nearest rivals (Suitespot from Netscape and Exchange from Microsoft) handily. The key reason for this is Domino's built in HTTP server that transforms Notes into an Internet application server. Secondary reasons include a centralized access control over all groupware functions and built in encryption functions. Domino can run over Windows NT, Sunsoft Solaris and IBM's AIX platforms.

The core groupware functions include e-mail, calendaring, scheduling, workflow and document management. It also lets end-users collaborate in threaded Web discussion groups. Domino comprises two main components Lotus Notes 4.5 and an integrated HTTP server. This server allows HTML web pages and Notes documents to be sent both to Notes clients and Web browsers. That means anyone can access this information even if they don't have a Notes client running on their computer. More importantly, the server also converts Notes databases into HTML, which is especially useful for online databases comprised of online submitted resumes or other information which is stored in databases. In this way, end users can access information contained in Notes databases, converted to HTML script, on their local web browser. This is a giant step over when the Notes and HTTP servers were separate and updates to the Notes server had to be manually formatted in HTML and then posted on to the HTTP servers.

Domino also features centralized management of users and servers, which saves administrators from having to do repetitive tasks on multiple applications. This is through the Note's centralized Access Control List, which also controls security services. Using this list, net managers can put some limits on just who gets to read, edit or delete documents within databases. Lotus is also looking to add further functionality to Domino groupware by incorporating other emerging Internet standards like Common Object Request Broker (COBRA), API (application program interface), etc. The current price for a Domino package is $995.