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Iris Associates was an American software development company founded in 1984. It developed the software for Lotus Notes (subsequently IBM Notes). Iris worked under contract with Lotus Development Corporation until 1994, when it was bought by Lotus.^[1]

Founding[edit]

Iris Associates was founded in Westford, Massachusetts on December 7, 1984, by Ray Ozzie. Tim Halvorsen and Len Kawell, who joined Iris shortly afterwards in January 1985, met Ray Ozzie years before when all of them were working on the University of Illinois PLATO system. They are widely regarded as the core team behind the creation of Lotus Notes. Len Kawell was the author of PDP-11 Notes and a predecessor of VAX Notes, which shared similar functionality to Lotus Notes but predated the graphical interface of the PC.

Relationship with Lotus Development Corporation[edit]

The company's primary funding came from a contractual relationship with Lotus Development Corporation (later known as Lotus Software), best known at the time for its Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet software. Lotus funded development of Iris's product (then code-named simply "Notes") in exchange for a future option to purchase exclusive intellectual property, marketing, and sales rights. After this option was exercised years later by Lotus, Iris was additionally compensated through royalties on gross product sales. Lotus Notes was brought to market on Iris's 5th anniversary, December 7, 1989.

The author/publisher contractual relationship between Iris Associates and Lotus Development continued until 1994, when Iris was purchased by Lotus for approximately US$84 million.^[1]

Success of Lotus Notes[edit]

Only a year later, in the face of the rapid decline of its desktop business, Lotus itself was purchased by IBM for approximately US$3.5 billion^[2] and Notes became branded as IBM Notes. Approximately US$3 billion of this price is generally attributed to the purchase of the Notes business.

At the time of the IBM purchase, Lotus reported that Notes had approximately 2.2 million users. In 2004, nearing the 20th anniversary of the founding of Iris Associates, IBM reported that Notes has over 110 million users.

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b "COMPANY NEWS; Lotus Buying Developer Of Its Notes Software". The New York Times. May 24, 1994.
^ Rifkin, Glenn (January 15, 1996). "Lotus Notes And I.B.M.: Still Happy Together?". The New York Times.

External links[edit]

Official history of Lotus Notes

This United States software corporation or company article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[:0-1] "COMPANY NEWS; Lotus Buying Developer Of Its Notes Software". The New York Times. May 24, 1994.

[2] Rifkin, Glenn (January 15, 1996). "Lotus Notes And I.B.M.: Still Happy Together?". The New York Times.

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+{{short description|American technology company}}
-Iris Associates was a software development company founded in Littleton, Massachusetts on December 7th, 1984 by [[Ray Ozzie]], specifically to build the software ultimately known as [[Lotus Notes]].  Tim Halvorsen and Len Kawell, who joined Iris shortly thereafter in January of 1985, met Ray Ozzie years before while all were working on the [[University of Illinois]] [[PLATO]] project.  Ray, Tim and Len are widely regarded as the core team behind the creation of Lotus Notes.
+'''Iris Associates''' was an American [[software development]] company founded in 1984. It developed the software for [[Lotus Notes]] (subsequently IBM Notes). Iris worked under contract with [[Lotus Development]] Corporation until 1994, when it was bought by Lotus.<ref name=":0" />
+==Founding==
-The company's primary funding came as the result of a contractual relationship with [[Lotus Development]] Corp., best known at the time for its [[Lotus 1-2-3]] spreadsheet software.  The basic nature of the initial relationship between Iris and Lotus was that Lotus speculatively and completely funded development of Iris' product (then code-named simply "Notes") in exchange for a future option to purchase exclusive intellectual property, marketing & sales rights.  After this option was ultimately exercised years later by Lotus, Iris was additionally compensated (beyond development costs) through royalties on gross product sales.  Lotus Notes was brought to market on Iris' 5th anniversary, on December 7, 1989.
+Iris Associates was founded in [[Westford, Massachusetts]] on December 7, 1984, by [[Ray Ozzie]]. Tim Halvorsen and [[Len Kawell]], who joined Iris shortly afterwards in January 1985, met Ray Ozzie years before when all of them were working on the [[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign|University of Illinois]] [[PLATO system]]. They are widely regarded as the core team behind the creation of Lotus Notes. Len Kawell was the author of PDP-11 Notes and a predecessor of [[VAX Notes]], which shared similar functionality to Lotus Notes but predated the graphical interface of the PC.
+==Relationship with Lotus Development Corporation==
-The author/publisher contractual relationship between Iris Associates and Lotus Development continued for many years, until 1984 when Iris was purchased by Lotus for approximately US$84 million.
+The company's primary funding came from a [[contract]]ual relationship with [[Lotus Development]] Corporation (later known as Lotus Software), best known at the time for its [[Lotus 1-2-3]] spreadsheet software. Lotus funded development of Iris's product (then code-named simply "Notes") in exchange for a future option to purchase exclusive [[intellectual property]], [[marketing]], and [[sales]] rights. After this option was exercised years later by Lotus, Iris was additionally compensated through [[royalties]] on gross product sales. Lotus Notes was brought to market on Iris's 5th anniversary, December 7, 1989.
+The author/publisher contractual relationship between Iris Associates and Lotus Development continued until 1994, when Iris was purchased by Lotus for approximately US$84 million.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|title=COMPANY NEWS; Lotus Buying Developer Of Its Notes Software|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/24/business/company-news-lotus-buying-developer-of-its-notes-software.html|work=The New York Times|date=May 24, 1994}}</ref>
-Only a year later, in the face of an apparent rapid decline of its desktop business, Lotus itself was purchased by [[IBM]] for approximately US$3.5B.  Approximately US$3B of this price is generally attributed to the purchase of the Notes business.  At the time of the IBM purchase, Lotus reported that Notes had approximately 2.2M users.  In 2004, nearing the 20th anniversary of the founding of Iris Associates, IBM reports that Notes has over 110M users.
+==Success of Lotus Notes==
+Only a year later, in the face of the rapid decline of its desktop business, Lotus itself was purchased by [[IBM]] for approximately US$3.5 billion<ref>{{cite news|last1=Rifkin|first1=Glenn|title=Lotus Notes And I.B.M.: Still Happy Together?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/01/15/business/lotus-notes-and-ibm-still-happy-together.html|work=The New York Times|date=January 15, 1996}}</ref> and Notes became branded as [[IBM Notes]]. Approximately US$3 billion of this price is generally attributed to the purchase of the Notes business.
+At the time of the IBM purchase, Lotus reported that Notes had approximately 2.2 million users. In 2004, nearing the 20th anniversary of the founding of Iris Associates, IBM reported that Notes has over 110 million users.
+==References==
+{{reflist}}
+==External links==
+* [http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/library/ls-NDHistory Official history of Lotus Notes]
+[[Category:Defunct software companies of the United States]]
+[[Category:Software companies based in Massachusetts]]
+[[Category:Defunct companies based in Massachusetts]]
+[[Category:American companies established in 1984]]
+[[Category:Software companies established in 1984]]
+[[Category:Software companies disestablished in 1994]]
+[[Category:1984 establishments in Massachusetts]]
+[[Category:1994 disestablishments in Massachusetts]]
+[[Category:Former IBM subsidiaries]]
+[[Category:1994 mergers and acquisitions]]
+{{-}}
+{{US-software-company-stub}}