In advance of its annual Lotusphere conference in Orlando, Florida next week, IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that the number of global Lotus Notes licenses has reached 145 million, up five million, including purchases by many industry leaders exchanging Microsoft licenses for Lotus collaboration software.

Over the past 15 months ending in the third quarter of 2008, more than 12,000 new organizations bought their first Notes/Domino licenses, and more than half of the Fortune global 100 now use Lotus Notes and Domino. This includes more than 80 percent of the largest banks, consumer product, electronics, insurance, pharmaceutical and telecommunications companies -- as well as more than 50 percent of America's largest 100 companies.

Read more about it on the cnn.com Website.