IBM"s Sametime has gained interoperability with public instant messaging networks from AOL and Google, and will interoperate with the one from Yahoo in a matter of weeks. IBM plans to make the announcement today, almost a year after disclosing its intention to provide this interoperability for Sametime 7.5, the newest version of the enterprise IM system.
The gaping hole in the announcement is Microsoft Windows Live Messenger, which, with AOL"s AIM and Yahoo Messenger, is one the world"s three largest consumer IM networks. Microsoft sells an enterprise IM system called Live Communications Server that competes directly with Sametime. It interoperates with AIM, Yahoo Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger. Akiba Saeedi, program director for Real Time Collaboration products at IBM"s Lotus division, declined to comment on why Windows Live Messenger is missing from the Sametime interoperability picture.