I’m finally able to take some time to dig into IBM’s Workplace product line. Long-time readers will remember that I wrote about buying licenses last year, but I’m just now getting around to working with the product (currently at version 2.5.1).
So far, here’s what I’ve learned. Bear in mind that I’m working with the full Workplace product, not Workplace Services Express.
First, when IBM recommends 4GB of RAM, they mean it. I tried running a single-server Workplace install in a VM with 1.5GB, and it was page-faulting like a madman– it took more than 15 minutes just to get a logon page. On a single-CPU machine with 2GB, performance is more acceptable but still not great. (I remember complaining that betas of Exchange 2000 on a single-CPU machine were slow with less than 384MB of RAM… technology marches on!)
Second, if you don’t already know what you’re doing, too bad; there’s no “getting started” documentation that I can find. There’s a redbook called “Deploying IBM Workplace Collaboration Services on the IBM eServer iSeries Server” that purports to explain some of the getting-started stuff, but it’s a draft, and there’s a lot of missing content (like, say, the index). For example, chapter 4 (on directory services) has a note that says “new drafts will be published at least weekly”, but it was last updated 13 July 2005. Oops. The DeveloperWorks site has a ton of Workplace-specific information, but it’s focused (as you’d expect) on developing and customizing apps, not on basic administrative tasks.
This is problematic because it’s not obvious (or even discoverable) how to perform many common tasks. How do you add a user? Well, it depends. If you’ve set up Workplace to use an external LDAP directory, you add users using your normal directory service and Workplace provisions them for you… but the default install uses WebSphere Member Manager vice an external directory, which is (AFAICT) completely invisible in the Workplace management tools. (For fun, try searching for “member manager” on the WebSphere Portal technical library… completely worthless.) In fact, as near as I can tell, WMM is always used as a lookaside DB to store Workplace-specific properties that may not be supported by the underlying LDAP directory. However, I can’t find a list of these properties, so it’s not clear whether other applications could make use of them. Users can self-provision (a nice touch) from the Workplace logon page, but that doesn’t scale well.
Interestingly, the install instructions for a single-server demo deployment say you should use the default Cloudscape DBMS. However, the planning guide says that Cloudscape isn’t robust enough for production use, so I guess you also have to buy a license for either DB2, Oracle, or SQL Server.
Finally, as far as I can tell, ordinary mortals still can’t buy the rich client. It’s reportedly available from IBM’s PartnerWorld, so I guess I’d better sign up as an IBM partner if I want to test it. Sheesh.
Paul's Down-Home Page 
Why wouldn’t you want to be an IBM partner if you are testing IBM software? I’m not sure I understand why there is a requirement in market that a particular product be sold through a particular channel. This is the route IBM has chosen for today, it will change.
Well, as I understand it, organizations that aren’t IBM partners cannot buy the rich client. That means that 95% of our clients (including some very large ones) aren’t eligible to buy it– certainly a factoid of interest to those customers.
I don’t dispute IBM’s right to choose how they sell the rich client, or any other component of Workplace. By the same token, I insist on my right to poke fun at those choices.
Of course organizations that aren’t IBM partners can buy the rich client. It’s just not an off-the-shelf available by default part in Passport Advantage. Many end customer organizations have already bought the Workplace Managed Client… just not through a “buy now” button.