During the Enterprise Connect 2011 trade show this week, Cisco announced its Jabber team-up product, a unified communications app that centralizes several communication tools, such as instant messages, voice and video messaging, desktop sharing and conferencing, into one application. The new app will initially be running on Mac the application will run on all other platforms, Windows, Nokia, Android and BlackBerry. The new product from Cisco targets business environments, and the main point of attraction of Jabber is that it can be accessed inside and outside the office and also offers out-of-the-box integration with video endpoints like IP phones, WebEx and telepresence systems.

As expected, Hewlett-Packard offered a jaundiced opinion on Jabber and considers that the way Cisco is addressing what both companies see as a need to deliver a unified set of datacenter technologies involves building partnerships with third parties and integrating them on behalf of its customers.  The list includes BMC, EMC, Emulex, Intel, Microsoft, NetApp, Novell, Oracle, QLogic, Red Hat and VMware. At a certain point, clients will want to benefit from the best products, leading in the end to less unification among technologies.

Cisco has a solid tradition of interwining professional services and innovation.  A few days ago Cisco released the Telepresence service, giving enterprises the ability to record and share videos and content efficiently, stretching the availability of live or stored audiovisuals for events and organizational communications, as well as allowing users to enjoy outstanding search competencies among videos, eliminating the hassle of scrolling up and down. But Cisco does not take too much for granted, deciding to withdraw its email service.

Verizon’s taking advantage of Cisco’s telecommunications provisions as well. At the moment Verizon is working on a unified communications service encompassing presence information, instant messaging, videoconferencing and fixed-mobile call handoffs through a Cisco Systems-based cloud infrastructure, under the name of Unified Communications and Collaboration as a Service (UCCaaS).

Verizon has also achieved Data Center Unified Computing Authorized Technology Provider status from Cisco.  According to Verizon, this designation recognizes Verizon Business as having fulfilled the training and program prerequisites to sell, deploy and support the Cisco Unified Computing System in the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands.