Enews 2.0 breaks the story this morning that Skype has finally released a beta client for its mobile VOIP application.  The article states that the beta supports 50 different mobile phone models from Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, and Sony Ericcson (no mention of Blackberry).  They haven’t released much in the way of details of how it works (I’m assuming it’s using the data channel to send calls over the cell network, rather than voice over IP over the data channel).  I think the hype around Skype (sorry for the lame pun) has fallen in the last year or so, still Skype remains attractive for SMBs and/or those traveling internationally.   I’m anxious to try this, hopefully there will be a BB client before long.

The first part of this New York Times article paints an alarming picture of the realities of growing security vulnerabilities in business. In part, those vulnerabilities are the doors left open as employees download and run applications such as peer-to-peer file sharing and instant messaging. But the main issue this article raises is that users are circumventing IT to use applications like Google Docs and Google Desktop to do their jobs more effectively. This is keeping IT and security experts awake at night, worrying about what information is making its way out of the corporate firewall and creating a potentially dangerous situation. Continue Reading »

Eric Krapf breaks the news that IBM and Microsoft have agreed to conduct interoperability testing of Sametime and OCS and report their results at VoiceCon fall in November.

It’s obvious that the technical challenges in interfacing IM and presence capabilities between the two systems can be overcome, but the ability to interoperate is hindered by business considerations.  I’ve never understood why I can connect any VOIP system to any other VOIP system using SIP, H.323 or even QSIG, but I still can’t federate presence and IM among many systems.  Hopefully we’re seeing a breakdown in the walls preventing full interoperability.

While there’s been much talk about Microsoft’s expanded foray into SaaS this week, the SaaS market continues to be limited by one key factor - web-based apps require Internet connectivity to function.  This isn’t a big deal for those of us working in office environments with always-on Internet connectivity.  But for the mobile professional with spotty WiFi or cellular coverage, disconnect can be non-productive.

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Sticking to the “software plus service” mantra, Gates had this to say about the announcement of an expansion to Microsoft Online Services:

The combination of software plus services gives customers advanced choice and flexibility in how they access and manage software, Gates said. With Microsoft Online Services, businesses can deploy software as a subscription service, from servers they manage on-site, or a combination of the two, depending on their specific needs. In the future, customers and partners should expect to see this kind of choice and flexibility for all of Microsofts software and server products.

You can read the entire press release here.

According to a blog post from Nick Carr over the weekend, Microsoft may be making moves to go public with its Software-as-a-Service strategy, a domain very familiar to rival Google. Carr states:

“I’ve heard that Microsoft has begun briefing its large enterprise clients on an expansive and detailed strategy for moving its software business into the cloud. If the report proves correct - and I make no guarantees - the company will unveil the strategy to the public either next week or the week after.”

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I recently learned about acool company that is bridging the communications gap between radio and telephone.The WAVE software application from Twisted Pair allows for the seamless interaction of communications technologies regardless of the type or device: radio to radio, radio to cell phone, etc. It’s currently used by the US Army, US Special Forces Command and a number of three-letter Federal agencies, and now the company is looking to expand into the enterprise market.

I can see where it would translate well into the commercial sector. Imagine, for example, its value to a shipping company where employees are as likely to be on a truck radio as a phone, or a utility where techs in the field use radios to communicate.Suddenly those people can speak to one another as well as managers and co-workers back in the office–and even participate in conference calls–regardless of who’s using a radio and who’s on a telephone.

What’s cool about it is that it can fit into a UC environment, so that, for instance, employees using OCS to detect presence can see the availability states of colleagues on radios, then place calls to them as though they were using a phone. As James Mustarde, the company’s Director of Corporate Marketing, put it, “Knowing where people are is great, but it doesnt get you far if you cant actually communicate with them.”

More and more companies are realizing that to stay competitive in today’s increasingly global marketplace, they must support a virtual workplace in which distributed employees can collaborate, quickly and easily, regardless of where they’re located. That’s certainly what unified communications are all about, as organizations want and need to deliver real-time communications to their employees. It’s also a big reason why vendors are pushing—and companies are buying—telepresence and high-definition video conferencing systems. Now, forward-thinking companies are looking for ways to integrate their UC applications into business processes, to speed transactions and enable quick and informed decision making. But many such organizations forget a critical component of those very same business processes: the human element.

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This week was the 15th annual Lotusphere conference in Orlando, Florida.  It was my 15th as well, although my count includes three Lotuspheres in Europe.  

IBM unleashed a fire hose of announcements at the opening general session.  We’ll try to walk through the most interesting ones here.  It’s a lot of material but you should read through it regardless of whether you use mostly IBM tools or mostly Microsoft tools as there are implications here for all.

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IBM today announced IBM Lotus Symphony, a suite of software tools for creating and sharing documents, spreadsheets and presentations. This places IBM in competition with Google who recently began distributing Sun’s Star Office Suite as part of the Google Pack. But of course the real competition for IBM, Google and others is Microsoft and its dominent Office suite. IBM already lost this battle to Microsoft in the 90s when Office crushed it’s Lotus SmartSuite offering. Will Symphony’s battle with Office take a different course?

IBM is taking a different path this time by offering an open source product built around the Open Document Format (ODF) and by making the software available for free download. IBM’s announcement also emphasizes the collaborative aspects of their new offering and the ability to build composite applications through integration with existing business processes. The IBM Lotus Symphony suite includes Lotus Symphony Documents, Lotus Symphony Spreadsheets and Lotus Symphony Presentations. The tools support Windows and Linux desktops and have the ability to output to the PDF format.

Open source office apps have not been a significant threat to Microsoft’s dominence in the market so far. But with support from Sun, Google and IBM brewing and with new pressures from web-based offerings entering the market, the next battle for office productivity suites may be officially underway.