Today Cisco announced the acquisition of PostPath, an e-mail offering.   In a blog post by the VP of their Collaboration Software Group, Cisco has stated that this is part of their “cloud-based collaboration platform”.

This acquisition is interesting on a few fronts.

1) It’s a remarkable reversal.  Just a year ago, Cisco’s Chief Technology Officer, Joe Burton was decrying “the rapidly declining importance of email” (Is Your PC Just a Paperweight – August 8, 2007), and a year later, the company is writing a $220mm check for email technology.

2) Microsoft has long held that e-mail is a critical component of unified communications, and that is what we’ve delivered from day one.  Competitors are waking up to the fact that you can’t really deliver UC without email and are trying to catch up.  We have a 15 year head start with Exchange Server, which today runs seamlessly with conferencing, instant messaging, voice, and Office applications for millions of customers.

3) Cloud computing is having far-reaching effects, but some companies continue to present their customers with a Sophie’s choice when it comes to their product portfolio.  Cisco seems to be doing the same here – Saas/WebEx or on-premise/UC.  You can’t have both, so choose one.    Microsoft’s S+S Services approach is unique and provides customers with the flexibility to choose a solution that best fits their organizational needs, combining the best software and services.  This is the direction that companies such as Coca-Cola Enterprises, Ingersoll Rand, and others are choosing with Exchange and Exchange Online.

The ‘unified’ part of ‘unified communications’ carries particular importance for me, and that is why we take such pains to ensure that our products – such as Exchange and Office Communications Server – work well together – and with the other software applications and telephony systems our customers are already using.  Today’s acquisition is a fascinating change in direction, and it also seems to be a big endorsement of the path we’ve been taking for several years now.

Kim Akers, General Manager, UCG