MS Combines Exchange, Corporate IM Groups

Microsoft is combining its Exchange e-mail server group with the unit that handles corporate instant messaging, CNET News.com reports.

The move is the latest in string of organizational changes at the Redmond, Wa.-based software company. 

Microsoft’s Exchange unit will be combined with its Real-Time Collaborations (RTC) unit to form a new Unified Communications Group.  The shift merges Exchange–the company’s server software for handling corporate scheduling and e-mail–and the RTC’s product offerings, including the Live Communications Server, which allows employees to monitor other worker’s IM status to communication instantly via text or voice message.

“There will be no changes to the timing or feature sets for the next generation of products currently under development,” Microsoft said in a statement.  However, in a post on Microsoft’s press website, the head of the new Unified Communications Group, Anoop Gupta, said the shift was made to unify Microsoft’s corporate messaging products. 

“Unified Communications is about breaking down today’s silo’ed communication experiences and instead providing rich communication capabilities that allow people, teams and organizations to communicate simply and effectively while integrating seamlessly with business applications and processes,” Gupta said.

-Al Sacco