Nortel this week announced the acquisition of Pingtel's software-based unified communications (UC) system from Bluesocket - an enterprise mobility solution provider. The financial terms were not disclosed.

Pingtel is known as an open-source UC vendor with solutions based on interoperable software that can run on a range of hardware platforms. Pingtel will provide new software capabilities to Nortel's enterprise UC portfolio, as well as additional research and development capabilities. This transaction brings Pingtel's existing original equipment manufacturer (OEM) relationship with Nortel in-house, gives Nortel ownership of the Pingtel technology and furthers the company's ambitions to become more software-centric.

Nortel will use the Pingtel software capabilities to continue to deliver UC solutions to enterprise customers of all segments, but initially for the more cost-sensitive SMB market, as well as for some custom vertical markets. Initial plans will bring additional Pingtel open-source software elements to Nortel's SCS500 (Software Communication System 500) solution, which targets up to 500 users and has been available since April 2008.

This is a good example of Nortel evolving to a software and services-focused business, as evidenced by the 10+ IT platforms the SCS500 is currently supported on through Dell, IBM and most recently HP.

We expect that over time SIPfoundry - the open-source community in which both vendors are active participants - will be leveraged into the core Nortel architecture, including the Nortel MCS 5100. This will also provide a good SIP-proxy-type approach.

If you are an enterprise communications planner, this offers a significantly more open alternative that will interoperate with the rest of your broader communications and collaboration investments, with less lock-in (see "Developing an Enterprise Unified Communications Road Map" and "Key Issues for Voice Applications, 2008".)