Microsoft establishes 'interoperability council'

By Steve Malone

Posted on 15 Jun 2006 at 10:13

Microsoft has established a group known as the 'Interoperability Customer Executive Council' with the aim of identifying areas for interoperability improvements across its range of products and the overall software industry.

Among the founding members are Société Générale, LexisNexis, Kohl's Department Stores, Denmark's Ministry of Finance, Spain's Generalitat de Catalunya and Centro Nacional de Inteligencia (CNI), and the states of Wisconsin and Delaware

The choice of founding members says something about Microsoft's business strategy. Many of the companies are from Europe where the EU has been involved in an increasingly bitter dispute over interoperability issues with Windows Server.

In addition, last year the Wisconsin Supreme Court reinstated a class action suit against Microsoft that alleges anticompetitive conduct.

Microsoft recognises that its software has to operate in a heterogeneous environment, particularly with regard to Unix and Linux and that many government agencies around the world are requiring that products be considered 'interoperable' before they can be considered for tender.

The council, hosted by Bob Muglia, Microsoft's senior vice president of the Server and Tools Business will meet twice a year at the company's headquarters in Redmond. Microsoft promises that the council will have direct contact with Microsoft executives and product teams so it can raise important interoperability issues in areas such as connectivity, application integration and data exchange.

Earlier this year Microsoft established its own open source lab, known as Port 25 with the aim of fostering relations with open source developers in mixed environments.