* Business process improvements likely with Siemens/IBM Lotus partnership
Siemens last week announced that it has integrated its OpenScape platform with IBM Lotus Sametime. Openscape is Siemens’ unified communications application suite and it includes features like click-to-contact and click-to-conference. The integration brings together collaboration and unified communications products, showing the two companies’ continuing support for a service-oriented architecture.
Specifically, it brings SIP-based presence management to Lotus Sametime Openscape, available for use with IBM Lotus Sametime with features like device handover between endpoints and “auto-connect enhancements to the tell-me-when feature,” according to Siemens’ statement.
Since the Openscape product suite includes SOA-based Web services developer tools, the companies expect that enterprises using both Lotus Sametime and Openscape will be able to use the enhancements to provide business process improvement for applications like CRM and ERP. The product suite extends integrated presence management to PCs and PDAs, on-net and off-net wireline phones, cell phones, instant messaging, e-mail, voicemail, and conferencing.
Siemens expects to finalize their beta customer list this quarter, go into beta customer trials in the second quarter, and release the product for general availability in the fourth quarter.
Our take on the partnership: We think it is good for both companies and their customers — especially for Siemens. Siemens has already established a very strong partnership with Microsoft’s communications portfolio, and we’re glad to see that Siemens hasn’t put all their eggs into the Microsoft basket — much like Microsoft is extending its collaborative efforts to multiple communications infrastructure suppliers.
Siemens was an early supporter for integrating its communications management with Microsoft — maybe this announcement suggests that others will be joining the Lotus Sametime “bandwagon” with similar efforts.
