Cisco Systems late last week in the US said it would bolster its unified communications and collaboration portfolio through purchasing instant messaging company Jabber.
Jabber provides an open source IM and presence protocol used by Google Talk and Gizmo. Cisco didn't disclose financial details of the deal.
In essence, Jabber's technology allows multiple IM platforms to "talk" to each other. This means that it allows people using tools such as Microsoft Office Communications Server, IBM Sametime, AOL AIM, and Google to send messages to each and get presence information about one another.
Jabber's technology is already used by some large companies including AT&T, BT, EarthLink, FedEx, and JP Morgan.
The deal could help Cisco compete even more aggressively against Microsoft in the unified communications market. And it could dovetail with some of Cisco's previous acquisitions, including the purchase of web conferencing company WebEx.
Cisco expects to close the deal in the first half of 2009. Jabber's 50 employees will join Cisco's collaboration software group.
