ShoreTel Leans on IBM Foundations

IBM Lotus Foundations Reach is a pre-integrated Linux appliance that comes with an array of automated management tools that will automatically reconfigure the server in the event of a system failure. The system also allows customers to stream updates to the operating environment and the application running on top of it without having to take down the server.

The underlying Linux operating system for the system is based on a flavor of Linux that was created by Net Integration Technologies (NiTIX), which IBM acquired in 2008 to get the core autonomic management software that would eventually give rise to IBM Lotus Foundations.

According to Kevin Gavin, ShoreTel vice president of marketing, IBM Lotus Foundation is attractive as a platform for unified communication software because customers view these applications as critical to their businesses, which mean uptime is highly valued.

ShoreTel is locked in a battle over the future of unified communications against rivals such as Cisco, Avaya and other that ShoreTel claims essentially gouge customers by not offering complete turnkey unified communication systems.