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Over the weekend, a number of sites were abuzz with reports that IBM would soon release a version of Lotus Notes/Domino for the iPhone and iPod touch. As one of the major groupware solutions for the enterprise, Notes support is essential if folks are to take Apple's smartphone seriously as a business device; something AT&T is gearing up for with its recently announced Enterprise Data Plans for the iPhone..

As it turns out, this software is not quite ready for primetime … yet. At least that’s what an IBM spokesperson recently asserted to ZDNet Australia. The spokesperson is reported to have said, "It's not something that (is) ready to go out and market or launch."

IBM's annual Lotusphere 2008 conference is taking place in Orlando this week. It is there that the Associated Press reported a few days ago a formal announcement about Notes support for the iPhone would take place.

Through this support iPhone users would gain access to their Notes databases, e-mail, and calendar information through an Internet connection, all available on an IBM Domino e-mail server on the back end, of course.

Notes for the iPhone/touch would be free to those who have a Lotus Web-access license already and cost new users $39 per year.

Currently, according to IBM, there are 135 million Lotus Notes users around the world.

Though bringing Lotus Notes/Domino to the iPhone—it already supports Microsoft Exchange and Google Gmail and apps—would go a ways towards making the iPhone more attractive to businesses, some questions remain:

How secure would be to allow users to access company networks with an iPhone, for example? Until that question is answered satisfactorily, don't expect IT to allow too many iPhones onto their networks, at least officially.

The Cost of Doing Business
Meanwhile, AT&T just announced it would offer iPhone service plans for business or enterprise users.

These plans begin at $45 per month - but only until 2009 - which is $15 less than where AT&T's consumer plans start. (At the beginning of next year, business and consumer iPhone user plans will begin at the same $60 price.)

This plan entitles you to unlimited data access, 200 SMS messages and access to the iPhone’s visual voice mail feature. Pay $55 and you get 1500 SMSs; $10 more on top of that allows you to send as many text messages as you like.

As with consumers, AT&T will not subsidize the iPhone for business folk, which means they'll have to pay full price as well. Buying an iPhone also requires you sign up for a two-year service agreement.

For you globetrotters out there, an additional $25 gets you 20MB on AT&T's Data Global Plan, which is supported in 29 countries, while $60 bumps that number up to 50MB. If you plan on traveling abroad with your iPhone, picking one of these plans is a good idea.

Some users have come home from a trip abroad to find their mobile bills incredibly high, when an international roaming plan would have kept costs down. Of course, AT&T didn't offer these as an option to iPhone users at first.

For more on these plans, see here.

AT&T lists some useful tips for international iPhone roamers here.