Avaya and Skype are set to announce on Wednesday "a new strategic agreement for unified communications and collaboration solutions," according to a release from the companies.
The companies didn't provide any details about what the agreement would entail, but the announcement will feature David Gurle, general manager and vice president, Skype Enterprise and Alan Baratz, senior vice president and president, Avaya Global Communications Solutions.
While it isn't yet publicly known what the partnership will involve, the announcement itself tends to throw cold water on the rumors that Cisco was going to acquire Skype. Presumably, Avaya wouldn't go ahead with any kind of significant agreement if they believed Skype was going to be devoured by Cisco shortly.
Avaya and Skype are both owned by private equity company Silver Lake Partners, making a close working relationship between the two companies logical--though Skype is in the midst of a process leading to an IPO--assuming (as now seems likely) that Skype isn't going to be bought.
