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Innovative Communications Alliance

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Innovative Communications Alliance (ICA) in telecommunications is an alliance between Microsoft and Nortel to co-develop, integrate, market, sell and support unified communications products. The two companies are working together and creating integrated hardware and software solutions that join together voice, video, and data communications without requiring gateways or middleware.[1] Many companies create agreements and partnerships, but most are superficial.[2] The Microsoft and Nortel alliance is very different because it is a deep relationship of joint product development, integration and support. The two companies will also share developing technologies and patents within unified communication products.

Accomplishments

  • Secured 500 joint ICA customers as of Feb 2008. This is an increase of 200 from last year.
  • Completed 2 integrated collaboration centers - Visited by more than 1100 customers
    • Raleigh, NC
    • Maidenhead, England
  • Built 150 Microsoft/Nortel technology integration centers with live ICA product demonstrations
  • The ICA has been recognized by the Gartner group as a Unified Communications Leader[3]

ICA Products


The agreement

  • The agreement between Nortel and Microsoft was introduced by the CEOs at a press conference in July 2006.
  • Microsoft and Nortel agreed to and have created joint development teams, which have integrated the Microsoft Office 2007 applications with the Nortel telecommunication Hardware (Communication Server 2100, Communication Server 1000, Secure Router 4134, and LG-Nortel IP Phone 8540. The two companies initially focused on integrating the Microsoft and Nortel unified communications products for customers of Microsoft and Nortel who seek to integrate software suits (office, calendar, mail, etc.). Into business communications solutions (secure instant messaging, presence, voice and video telephony, web conferencing).
  • The two companies are using the alliance to accelerate the process of adopting a unified communications solution and to evangelize, educate and train the market.
  • The agreement commits the two companies in terms of patents sharing, technology, marketing and business, and the joint development of all Unified Communications products between the two companies.
  • The agreement provides for the exchange of licenses (intellectual property issues).
  • Nortel brings its 100 years of voice telecommunications; which will be reported into the Microsoft environment, particularly in the area of contact centers, IP telephony, mobility features and advanced data networks.
  • The two companies are both investing in the following resources: marketing, business development and deployment.
  • The joint teams will development, and integrate the products, under take the testing of the product integration prior to marketing the solutions to customers and partners. The agreement also provides for joint training initiatives and bonuses for sales forces, and provides significant resources for the promotion, business development and the provisioning of the solutions to customers.
  • The two companies have established demonstration centers across the globe where companies can test the upcoming features, interoperability between products, and integration with applications.
  • Services and Integration: Nortel has been certified a "Microsoft's Elite Gold Certified Partner", this qualification is held by less than 3% of Microsoft partners. The Canadian manufacturer has developed 11 specific modules in its service offerings that span the entire life cycle of a project: design, deployment, support & development. Nortel based on its own internal resources (2,200 experts in VoIP, 10,000 engineers and technicians from its Global Services division) and on a broad ecosystem of partners.
  • Microsoft and Nortel are deploying each other's technologies in their respective corporate networks.

The three market stages of evolution

The industry of telecommunications networks (including telephony) and the computer processes remain

separated. The market was "divided" on one side with manufacturers of network equipment (including

PBX / IP PBX) as Alcatel-Lucent, Avaya, Cisco Systems, Nortel and the other side software-focused

from Microsoft, IBM, and other software publishers.

The migration of business networks to the Internet Protocol, the arrival of new standard protocols

(including SIP), porting applications on servers telephony software trade, now allows the users to

access and interface (the same client software) telephony services to the company and various other

advanced services from the workstation, from fixed intelligent terminals (example - videophone), and

nomadic (mobile phone, and smart-phones etc.. .). The user can be reached from the same address. The

flow of voice and data communications are transmitted over the same network ( "unification of the

network"). Infrastructure, software is coupled and communicates with each other but they still reside

on distinct hardware platforms.

The first phase to removing the barriers is phase called "integration" and began in 2006-2007. It

will gradually lead after maturation of products and market around 2010 to the third stage

("transformation") characterized by the complete fusion of infrastructure on a single platform. The

application "telephony" would have been completely absorbed by computers.

All the manufacturers (IBM, Microsoft, Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco Systems, Nortel ...) know that the

market is moving in this direction. They are preparing in different ways depending on their positions

on the market, their interests (eg installed base), and their strategy: position of attack, defensive

stance, position of accompaniment, intermediate positions and/or dilatory.


Nortel-Microsoft - several versions

The two groups announced the formation of a strategic agreement on July 18, 2006, both technological

and commercial. Behind this agreement, it speaks well of certain technologies (primarily VoIP) from

Nortel that will be gradually integrated ( "digested") into bundled software from Microsoft. This is

unprecedented for a telecommunications equipment manufacturer and leaves observers puzzled.

In the view of some, to sign such an agreement with Microsoft is “You’re dancing with the devil;

you’re giving up your crown jewels “, they see Nortel as abandoning its technology, and believe that

reaching an agreement with Microsoft is like uniting with a black widow.[4] For other observers, this agreement is a reunion of interest. Microsoft has tried for several years

to have a credible offer on the market for business communications and runs into various obstacles,

including market access. Developing a comprehensive proposal with all the features required also

takes time. Nortel brings some these features and technologies faster because the Canadian group has

already developed them. Both companies also face the rising power of a competitor, Cisco Systems

after the takeover of WebEx in March

2007.[5]

Nortel will benefit from the wake of Microsoft. Many users in companies are familiar with the

Microsoft environment, and may want Nortel preferred to other equipment suppliers. For Nortel, it is

finally the opportunity to accompany as smartly as possible the inevitable momentum of the market

away from hardware to software, expanding its business of professional services. The company plans to

add more than one billion dollars in sales through 2009 through the provision of professional

services and through sales of products for voice & data network systems. [6]

Roadmap ( "segmentation," "integration" and the final "transformation")

  • Unified Messaging: native SIP Interoperability between Nortel CS 1000 and Microsoft Exchange Server

2007 Unified Messaging. Services Integration Nortel for the definition of the solution, its

deployment and support. Simplification joint deployment. Generally Available as of Q2 2007.

  • UC Integrated Branch: Housing multiservice preconfigured (IP telephony Nortel, Microsoft UC, router

secure commutation ...), which enables users to access services at remote sites. Available as of Q4

2007.

  • Conferencing: Extension services Nortel Multimedia Conference to Microsoft Office Communicator 2007,

a single customer ergonomics for services such as voice, IM, presence, and conference audio / video.

Available as of Q4 2007.

  • Solution allowing operators to provide communications services to their customers unified SMEs mode

SaaS / ASP. Microsoft software HMC (Hosted Messaging and Collaboration) is coupled to the switch

software Nortel CS 2000, which enables operators to host Exchange, Sharepoint and Office Live

Communications Server for their customers. Available as of Q4 2007


Deployments

2007

  • Approximately 110,000 lines British and Dutch Royal Dutch Shell - Microsoft servers and Nortel CS

1000, as well as various types of terminals.

  • After one year the two companies have announced and signed more than 100 contracts and sold more

than 430,000 licenses.

2008

  • MAY 20, 2008, TAIPEI, Taiwan – ASUSteK Computer, one of the world's largest computer and IT

suppliers, is using unified communications solutions from Nortel and Microsoft, for its employees.

See also

Look up ICA in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.


References

  1. ^ Microsoft Unified Communications Open Interoperability Program
  2. ^ Nortel Microsoft chart unified communications progress
  3. ^ Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications, 2007
  4. ^ http://www.voicecon.com/enews/2007/03/06/voicecon-spring-2007-daily-updatetuesday-march-6-2007/ VoiceCon Spring 2007 Daily Update—Tuesday, March 6, 2007
  5. ^ [http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/03/15/cisco-buys-webex-for-32-billion/ Cisco Buys WebEx for $3.2 Billion]
  6. ^ [http://enterprisecommunication.blogspot.com/2007/02/nortel-quantifies-target-reductions-in.html Nortel’s Future]


External links

Additional Citations & Ext References

< - - !! The ICA page was RFD and deleted for lack of referances in Dec 2007; the following is an

extensive list of referances to validate it notability | Please assist in integrating the following

into the article. - ->

vative-communications-alliance-ica.htm Microsoft, Nortel Announce Innovative Communications Alliance

(ICA)]

ntsrc=wp_li_spons Nortel and Microsoft Innovative Communications Alliance to transform business

communications]

unveil ICA's first products - Network World]

Nortel Communications Solutions Innovative Communications Alliance; Celebrates One-year Anniversary.]

plan do-everything server]

Microsoft communications alliance wins praise]

Nortel announce broad unified communications]

Zafirovski Says Nortel Making Enterprise Comeback]

microsoft]

]

unications-de-microsoft-et-de-nortel.html]

oft-office-21864.html]

oft-nortel-23060.html]

unications-de-microsoft-et-de-nortel.html]

Deployment of Unified Communications]

unified comms]

chart unified communications progress]

communications products]

the UC onion]


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