3/18/2008 -- It seems as if everyone is getting into the unified communications (UC) game. Last week, for example, Microsoft Corp. and Nortel Networks made available four new unified communications offerings which they jointly developed as part of their Innovative Communications Alliance.

The new offerings include the Converged Office with support for Office Communications Server, Multimedia UC Integrated Branch and Carrier Hosted Unified Communications Solution and Conferencing 5.0. At first glance, the combined Microsoft/Nortel entry seems like an ambitious thrust into a UC market that -- thanks to Microsoft's own Office-based UC entries, as well as competitive solutions from Cisco Systems Inc. and a host of others -- is teeming with competition. So should would-be UC kingpin Cisco be worried?

Not necessarily, industry watchers say. "[W]hile they [the combined Microsoft/Nortel UC entries] do chart the partnership's progress in developing integrated solutions, true points of differentiation against competitors' OCS integrations are either limited or likely to prove short-lived," wrote Brian Riggs and Robert Arnold, researchers with market watcher Current Analysis. "[F]or the most part, the new unified communications solutions deliver on product plans that were previously announced by the Innovative Communications Alliance...between [Nortel] and Microsoft. Support for Office Communications Server on Converged Office and the release of the OCS mediation server co-resident on Nortel branch office access routers are both product development efforts that have been in the works for some time now."

Nor is Nortel's exclusive certification as part of Microsoft's Unified Communications Open Interoperability Program much of a coup, either. "[W]hile Nortel is the first developer to certify its IP PBX under Microsoft's Unified Communications Open Interoperability Program other PBX developers are likely to soon achieve this certification as well," Riggs and Arnold wrote. "However, the Nortel-Microsoft alliance has produced some solution elements that competitors may find more difficult to counter."

For example, according to Riggs and Arnold, the Microsoft/Nortel UC Integrated Branch is an innovative new offering that combines Office Communications Server 2007's mediation server capabilities with the Nortel Secure Router 4134, making it possible for organizations to extend WAN routing, Ethernet switching, security, VoIP and other features to remote sites.

It's a potentially intriguing offering, Riggs and Arnold said, but at this point, Microsoft and Nortel aren't saying all that much about it. "As of now, there are few details available on the full scope of this solution's capabilities. Though this integrated approach to unified communications solutions has clear advantages in terms of cost and management, more will be needed to gauge UC Integrated Branch's effectiveness and appropriate positioning in competitive situations."

All in all, the two conclude, the Microsoft/Nortel move could pressure Cisco and other competitors to pursue similar partnerships.

"Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent and others that supply IP PBXs for use as part of hosted solutions should work with their service provider partners to develop combined hosted unified communications and IP telephony solutions that are as compelling and flexible as those that Nortel is planning to make available," they wrote. --Stephen Swoyer