The Jabber server can run on either Red Hat Linux or Solaris platforms, and a wide variety of clients are available for systems
ranging from Windows desktops to mobile phones and PDAs. The banners at the tops of pages and other visual aspects of the
client can be controlled by the administrator using the JMAdmin tool to provide an organization-specific look and feel for
messaging. Admins can specify other behaviors, ranging from whom a user may message to how communications can be initiated,
for individual users or groups of users according to roles.
The ability to impose policies based on roles creates interesting possibilities for organizations that have internal security
or conflict-of-interest walls in place between classes of employees. If, for example, analysts and brokers are not supposed
to talk with one another, an analyst would not be able to enter a Jabber chat room if a broker is already present; nor would
the analyst be allowed to send an individual message to the broker. Levels of encryption, file transfer ability, and password
policies are also set for users or user roles depending on the company.
Jabber carries one-to-one, one-to many, or many-to-many message sessions and creates discussion rooms that are simple to set
up and use. The combination of a straightforward default interface and easy-to-use commands allows Jabber to provide straightforward
messaging with a minimum of user training. Organizations that want to customize an instant messenger to reflect their visual
identity and style of group interaction will find a flexible, manageable alternative in Jabber. Jabber’s server and directory
flexibility, combined with an array of supported clients, take it to the top of our list of choices. Jabber makes the best
argument we’ve seen in favor of de-coupling the decisions of operating system and instant messenger.
The Choice Is Yours
Instant messaging has become a necessary piece of business infrastructure for many organizations. The question of which network
infrastructure pieces are already in place is critical when deciding on a messaging platform, since most messaging products
require specific directories or application frameworks with which to operate. The exception is Jabber, which is pleasantly
oblivious to directory servers and runs happily on either Linux, Windows, or Solaris servers.
The direction for all instant messaging systems is expanded media and client types. The functions provided by these messaging
platforms will continue to grow, though the demands they place on the network infrastructure will grow to keep pace. It’s
not hard to imagine a day, soon, when the instant messaging platform holds the same place of importance in the enterprise
that the e-mail system occupies today.
Realistically, if you’re supporting a Windows workstation environment and if you’ve already invested time learning to deploy
a particular solution, it just makes sense to stay on the same horse. But if you need to support a variety of clients and
platforms, and you already have a Unix background, you may seriously want to consider Jabber. With such a colorful collection
of clients — both commercial and open source — along with Jabber’s ability to support just about anyone’s directory and database
back end, Jabber provides a huge bang for the buck.
The most important realization is that organizations really do have choices — practically any organization can deploy Jabber,
for example. Some choices will be easier or cheaper to deploy. If you’ve already deployed every Microsoft back-end server
app, LCS will be a simple drop-in. The news isn’t that one thing is easier or harder, it’s that the options are out there,
and that is a message that often gets lost.
To sum up, Lotus IM works well with Notes and Web browsers, and provides smooth transitions from chat to app sharing to whiteboarding.
Microsoft truly offers a rich experience, but much of the wealth depends on an all-out adoption of Microsoft products and
architectures from top to bottom. Jabber is the king of flexibility and provides an extensible platform, which programmers
can use as the basis for almost any sort of message-based enterprise application imaginable. Novell’s messenger ties nicely
into GroupWise, but unless the circumstances require deploying right now, customers who are leaning towards GroupWise Messenger
should probably wait for the major upgrade that’s right around the corner.
Platform plays a role in any decision, however, IT managers can now look at their requirements for IM and match them to a
system, rather than looking at the messenger supported by their infrastructure and deciding they’ll have to live with the
limitations.
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(InfoWorld) - In the litigious world we live in, deploying a unified communications platform in your enterprise could...
