The product's release was a direct result of IBM's acquisition of Net Integration Technologies, which has been integrated into the IBM Lotus division. The original pre-acquisition product was based on the Net Integrator Mark 1 server appliance and its NITIX Autonomic
Linux Server OS. Lotus Foundations was introduced to market as a hardware appliance late in 2008, and a software-only appliance was also made available. In 2010 Lotus Foundations hardware appliance was discontinued and software-only appliance followed suit in February 2011. In June 2011, however, Lotus Foundations software appliance was reinstated on sale, but IBM does not sell it directly anymore, distributing it through selected Business Partners instead. IBM Lotus Foundations products were withdrawn from marketing on March 14, 2013 and are no longer available for purchase. Support for IBM Lotus Foundations products was withdrawn on September 30, 2014. ==Lotus Domino==