"I think with Version 7.5, it demonstrates kind of the wake-up call, that IBM realizes that convergence is important and is desired by customers," Gotta said.

Integrating the Eclipse system with Sametime to bring open standards and encourage outside development was a good move, he said. "It's good for Eclipse developers who can start looking at at Sametime as an application platform," which will encourage more possibilities, said Gotta.

But Gotta is skeptical of IBM's decision to leave the audio, video and IP telephony integration in the hands of third-party partners rather than building those capabilities into Sametime, as Microsoft is doing with its collaboration products.

"I think they're doing it to draw a distinction against Microsoft as opposed to what's best for their clients," he said. "I'm not sure it will work long-term. It leaves IBM dependent on the activities of partners who haven't proven that they can deliver applications as quickly or as well as IBM."

Another issue is the need for more detail on how IBM plans to integrate Sametime with Office XP and other Microsoft products. "There needs to be much more information provided along with specific patterns of integration on the client as well as with SharePoint," Gotta wrote in his blog (http://mikeg.typepad.com/).