A great deal of Nokia phones, and particularly the S60-based devices, can now access the Lotus Notes applications, thus granting email access to over 80 million users. This move is very profitable for Lotus as well, in that if half of the 80 million Nokia clients would purchase IBM's services, that would mean an increase of almost 30% in the number of users (currently of 140 million licensed users) for Lotus. Not too bad for a simple collaboration with Nokia.

For those thinking of using this new service, the system works in a very simple way, by allowing you to connect in real time to the corporate email accounts through the Lotus Domino Server. You will also have other services included, such as calendar, address book, journal, and to-do-list, and all of them will be available starting December this year.

"This is another strong affirmation of our business mobility vision, which is to establish partnerships with the world's leading enterprise vendors. This collaboration means nearly 90 percent of business email can be mobilized with Nokia devices, without needing to purchase additional servers, middleware or licenses. With the presence, position and technology that IBM have in the corporate email market, they are an essential partner for us in enterprise." Soren Petersen, senior vice president, Nokia, said about the availability of the new service.

"People need to be connected to their email, information and network when they are out of the office and that has to be done conveniently and on their terms. Lotus Notes Traveler for Nokia devices is a great example of that." Petersen further added.

"We are excited about IBM's growing relationship with Nokia and what this does for the build-out of the mobile Web. [...] We are literally freeing millions of people using Nokia's Symbian platform from having to rely on a desktop or laptop to access their important business communications." Kevin Cavannaugh, vice president of IBM Lotus software, also said about the collaboration between the two.

"Working with the market leader like Nokia is a natural fit for attaining IBM's goals of maintaining the flow of business, regardless of time, distance or location - all for no additional charge for both of our companies' current customers and a new opportunity for new customers." Cavannaugh explained.

Such a move has long been expected by IBM, which has been trying for some time to consolidate its reputation, and to become stronger and more powerful through precisely such means. Aside from that, this also leaves the door open for IBM to come up with other services as well, thus bringing forth more options for users and a greater profit for the company.