Covergence, best known for controlling, securing and managing real-time services with its Covergence Session Manager, announced Monday that it is upgrading its Covergence Collaboration Gateway (CCG) to support interoperability between IBM Sametime 8.0 and Microsoft's unified communications platforms. The company also introduced a subscription-based pricing alternative to its CCG customers.

The CCG sits between a Microsoft OCS 2007 or Microsoft LCS 2005 and an IBM Sametime (6.5 or higher version) SIP Connector to provide interoperability that includes support for users’ instant messaging and presence information. Browser-based administrator tools enable users to define and enforce policies on cross-domain traffic and set access control policies for both Automatic Active Directory and Domino user record retrieval. The new subscription pricing ranges from a high of $3.73 per user per month with 2,000 users and a one-year subscription, to a low of 50 cents per user per month with a three-year contract and 20,000 users.

When we spoke with Rod Hodgman, vice president of marketing about the announcement, he said that Covergence has been offering cross-platform support for over a year and that the newest release adds support for IBM Sametime 8.0. He also noted that as IBM and Microsoft evolve their unified communications platforms, Covergence will continue to provide upgrades.

Our observations: We recall that back in March at VoiceCon, both Microsoft and IBM execs promised to deliver an interoperable solution on their own, with a commitment to a unified communications interoperability test at a future VoiceCon conference. (Perhaps at VoiceCon this November in San Francisco?) However, to use the old cliché “the proof is in the pudding” we anxiously await an interoperability demo. In the meantime, Covergence may need to continue with its platform upgrades as Microsoft and IBM evolve their respective unified communications solutions until the day arrives when IBM and Microsoft can solve this issue on their own.

Steve Taylor is president of Distributed Networking Associates and publisher/editor-in-chief of Webtorials. Larry Hettick is a principal analyst at Current Analysis.