Momentum is building for the Office Communications Server 2007 and Communicator 2007 launch later this year. Gartner has produced a number of reports already and more to come I think. Mostly for subscribers only unfortunatly …
… Now that Microsoft is testing its voice over IP for launch in 2Q07, enterprise IT systems and business process owners must evaluate their long-term interest in using emerging voice alternatives in enterprise IT solutions to support customer service and internal operations. …
Source: Gartner.com
Agree that OCS 2007 looms like a shadow over the industry but not quite so with Communicator. It will be a significant data point in the UC timeline. But I think Microsoft needs to almost go back to the drawing board and revisit the application requirements across Communicator, Communicator Web Access, Office, etc.
Communicator will suffice for basic productivity needs but the application development model is not mature. I think we can all admit that. The plug-in model for Sametime for instance is much more flexible and allows developers to move beyond the buddy list and use it as a platform for real-time collaborative applications. There are still plenty of gaps on the IBM side but they did get the developer model right – and with Cisco using Lotus Expeditor as well in future releases, UC-enabled applications will get pretty interesting.
Mike,
Thanks for sharing your perspective on this. To be honoust, I am not 100% up to speed on the Microsoft application development model for communicator, however this does not seem to stop a fair number of partners (all but Cisco?) to develop their solutions based on the OCS / Communicator / Exchange environment.
As you very well know Microsoft is pushing hard on UC with many good things just around the corner and to be released in the coming months and its not stopping. I am sure Microsoft will do what it needs to do to make it work and will not wait 5+ releases or so like SameTime did ;-).
I have recently worked with the new IP phones and Roundtable for example and am quite certain there’s a big market for these as well alongside Communicator
The challenge for IBM is:
1. How do they get non Lotus Notes / Domino users to start using SameTime in the now very very competitive market, where I dare to say that Microsoft is do very well relative to IBM on the presence / IM front
2. Will they get their ‘partnership’ with Cisco to work. After the WebeX puchase by Cisco I have not heard any progress and I think this is more a tactical (buying time) move by Cisco than anything else.