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 on Wednesday, 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’s 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 (LCS) that competes directly with Sametime. LCS 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.The Sametime interoperability comes via a separate gateway server to which connectors for each IM network can be added at no extra cost beyond the price of the Sametime license, Saeedi said. The gateway server provides a variety of management capabilities for IT departments to establish user policies and access rights, and in general have control over the IM communications employees engage in with people on the Yahoo, AOL and Google networks.Initially, the interoperability will be limited to exchanging text messages, but IBM wants to expand and deepen it to include other types of communications that have become common in IM services, like voice and video chats, file sharing and Web conferencing.Instant messaging has in recent years become an essential tool in the workplace, so opening Sametime up to these external IM networks will allow its users to communicate with clients and partners who use AIM, Yahoo Messenger and Google Talk for business, Saeedi said. -Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service (Miami Bureau)Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content opinion Website spoofing: risks, threats, and mitigation strategies for CIOs In this article, we take a look at how CIOs can tackle website spoofing attacks and the best ways to prevent them. By Yash Mehta Dec 01, 2023 5 mins CIO Cyberattacks Security brandpost Sponsored by Catchpoint Systems Inc. Gain full visibility across the Internet Stack with IPM (Internet Performance Monitoring) Today’s IT systems have more points of failure than ever before. Internet Performance Monitoring provides visibility over external networks and services to mitigate outages. By Neal Weinberg Dec 01, 2023 3 mins IT Operations brandpost Sponsored by Zscaler How customers can save money during periods of economic uncertainty Now is the time to overcome the challenges of perimeter-based architectures and reduce costs with zero trust. By Zscaler Dec 01, 2023 4 mins Security feature LexisNexis rises to the generative AI challenge With generative AI, the legal information services giant faces its most formidable disruptor yet. That’s why CTO Jeff Reihl is embracing and enhancing the technology swiftly to keep in front of the competition. By Paula Rooney Dec 01, 2023 6 mins Generative AI Digital Transformation Cloud Computing Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe