2/5/2008 -- You wouldn't expect IBM Corp.'s Lotusphere user conference to produce much in the way of Cisco-related news. But given the history of close collaboration between both IBM and Cisco -- and taking into account Big Blue's ongoing effort to build more and more telephony features into its Lotus Notes platform -- a Cisco-related product blast isn't all that surprising.

And that's just what Lotusphere attendees got last week, when IBM expanded its existing Lotus Sametime integration arrangement with Cisco (as well as a Sametime-related joint development accord that it had previously notched with Nortel Networks). Big Blue will now offer Lotus Sametime through direct and indirect Nortel and Cisco sales channels worldwide.

Industry watchers say that although the expanded deals are big wins for both Cisco and Nortel, they amount to coups, of a sort, for Big Blue, which has faced enormous pressure from Microsoft Corp., among others.

"This promises to help simplify the sourcing of IBM unified communications products, increase their visibility within an extensive combined global base of PBX customers, and make it easier for communications resellers to build IBM rather than Microsoft-based unified communications solutions," said Robert Arnold, senior analyst for enterprise communications with consultancy Current Analysis.

"Overall, IBM has done a commendable job in the past 18 months raising visibility for its latest unified communications solutions developments," he continued. "This is pivotal as the company needs to continue to take an offensive stance whenever possible against Microsoft, which has been particularly aggressive in its approach to the communications market. Significantly, IBM estimates that nearly one-third of new Lotus Sametime customers in 2007 were Microsoft Exchange accounts."

The Cisco and Nortel accords are far from a slam dunk from IBM, however, according to Arnold.

"[T]he reseller agreements with Cisco and Nortel remain in very early stages of development," he said. "At some point in the next quarter or so Sametime and other IBM software will be added to Cisco and Nortel SKUs, but neither company plans to offer technical support or professional services specific to the IBM products. So though ordering will be simplified, installation and support will not."

There's also the issue of product overlap -- or of out-and-out redundancy. "[T]he Lotus Sametime portfolio delivers much of the same functionality offered with Cisco and Nortel's respective unified communications portfolios, including Web conferencing, file sharing, instant messaging, presence, click to call/conference and more," Arnold said.

And that's not all; Big Blue is poised to actually start competing against telephony partners Cisco and Nortel, among others.

"IBM will soon be releasing its Sametime Unified Telephony software, a plug-in that provides multi-PBX integration," Arnold said. "The Sametime Unified Telephony software is co-resident on the Sametime server and provides integration with a wide range of PBX systems. In effect, IBM will be competing with its voice systems partners in the emerging market for PBX -- Sametime connectors in addition to places where there is already overlap." --Stephen Swoyer