Microsoft Melds Exchange Into RTC Group

Now here is some interesting news.

Microsoft says it is converging its real-time and non-real time communications into a for-real (dare I use the word?) platform. Or at least merge them into the same group.

The company is melding the Exchange e-mail group and Real Time Collaboration into a Unified Communications Group (that's UCG to YOU!) under Jeff Raikes.

Dave Thompson, the corporate vice president of the Exchange Server Product Group and the team will continue to serve in this role but Thompson will now report to Anoop Gupta instead of server-chief Paul Flessner.

Gupta, who was the corporate veep in charge of the real-time stuff—aka Live Communications Server, will now be in charge of the whole communications "platform."

That means Exchange Server, which was under the server group (with a dotted line into Raikes' group) is now fully in Raikes' Microsoft Business Division, which fields Office, SharePoint Portal Server, Content Management Server and yes now Microsoft Business Solutions.

My, my, my, talk about expanding territory! CMS and SPS used to be in the other server group as well. CMS got merged into the SPS and then both flowed into Raikes' group over time.

For more from Anoop, see this Microsoft site.

A Microsoft spokeswoman positioned the shuffling as just the latest ripple in a series started with last September's reorg.