The lack of IM interoperability reminds me of the dark old days of early email systems which required a host of proprietary gateways and MTA's to make them talk to each other - X.400
Lines are drawn between two protocols currently working their way through the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standards body: the SIP (Session Initiation Protocol)-based SIMPLE (SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions) and the open-source, XML-based protocol XMPP (eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol).
Whereas Microsoft and IBM have thrown their weight behind SIMPLE, a groundswell of support is rising behind XMPP, as Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Hitachi , Sony, and others invest in the technology.
Intel's Wireless Communications and Computing Group chose XMPP-based IM vendor Jabber last month. HP plans to deepen its XMPP support with a forthcoming distribution and systems integration deal with Denver-based Jabber.
One key factor is the fact that the SIMPLE protocol is still incomplete, IBM's and Microsoft's implementations have required the addition of proprietary extensions to make their offerings work. Admitting that its forthcoming Microsoft Real-Time Communications Server 2003 contains propriety extensions to fill out the SIMPLE protocol, Microsoft steadfastly maintains its commitment to the SIMPLE standard as it matures. "We are absolutely committed to being SIMPLE compliant," said Ed Simnett, lead product manager of RTC Server at Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft.
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