Microsoft: Software-Powered Communications
Streamlining the user experience through software is a key element of Microsoft’s approach for unified communications, and the company has focused its efforts on developing a “person-centric” communications environment. This means there is a single user directory, a single login, a single SIP URI, a single inbox, and a single source for all presence information, regardless of which device a person may actually be using. Furthermore, the nature of the communications itself becomes streamlined via rich presence through integration with Exchange’s calendaring and email, as well as through the use of “activity level” indicators from the computer or telephone (that indicate when the phone is in use or a person has been away from their computer), and through communications capabilities embedded in other Microsoft and third-party, line-of-business applications.
Microsoft is attempting to provide a completely portable communications experience that offers the same multimodal, click-to-access capabilities whether someone is at work, at home, or while traveling, including telephony. The company believes that any PC running the Microsoft Windows operating system should have the full capabilities one needs to do business, and that the PC should provide the complete communications experience. In the Microsoft paradigm, every communications event passes through either Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 or Microsoft Exchange Server. Even if a person uses a non-Microsoft device, like the LG-Nortel OCS telephone, or even a mobile phone, communications events pass through one of these two servers.
Thus, when considering Microsoft’s unified communications approach, think of it as a client-server application that provides a streamlined user-centric communications experience based around the PC, laptop or mobile device. Microsoft’s approach is enabled by unified Microsoft back-end components utilizing Microsoft operating systems, Microsoft servers (SQL Server, Exchange Server, OCS 2007, Speech Server, etc.), Microsoft’s call control, and Microsoft’s collaborative environment embodied by Office Communicator and Live Meeting or as embedded in line-of-business applications.
IBM Lotus: Choice and Competitive Advantage
While Microsoft’s approach to unified communications could be described as person-centric, IBM Lotus seems to be approaching UC from more of a systems and platform standpoint. IBM Lotus’s philosophy is that organizations embrace openness and that they work in heterogeneous environments, preferring best-of-breed systems and capabilities from a number of different vendors. Thus, IBM Lotus’ unified communications strategy is supported by two fundamental pillars:
Beginning with Lotus Sametime 7.5 and Lotus Notes 8.0 (IBM Lotus’ UC and email products, respectively), both products have been built on the Eclipse open software development and runtime framework. Eclipse is supported not only by IBM Lotus, but by other major vendors including Motorola, BEA, Nokia, Intel, Actuate, Sybase, Oracle, as well as by over 800,000 Eclipse software developers. Eclipse’s open software strategy allows IBM Lotus customers to easily extend or embed unified communications capabilities within their line-of-business applications, over a number of different operating systems. It also allows them to employ third-party, value-add products as part of the solution.
Thus, you could think of IBM Lotus’ approach to unified communications as offering a platform that can run on Microsoft, IBM, Sun, Linux, and Apple operating systems, and that utilizes IBM Lotus’ collaborative client/server applications -- Lotus Sametime, Lotus Domino (email server and directory services), and Lotus Notes (email client). This platform can easily be extended or embedded, and IBM Lotus embraces partners for telephony and other third party functionality. IBM Lotus’ stated purpose for the platform is to accelerate human communications in the organizations implementing it.
Table 1: Apples to Apples Sametime to OCS comparison
