IBM, Motorola Ink Blade Technology Exchange Deal

Plans also call for IBM, Armonk, N.Y., to include Motorola's Service Availability Forum Application Interface Specification software in future versions of IBM's eServer Integrated Platform for Telecommunications.

Under the deal, Motorola Computer Group, Schaumburg, Ill., plans to include IBM eServer BladeCenter, BladeCenter T and xSeries rack-optimized servers in its Application-Enabling platform lineup.

IBM Business Partners praised IBM for striking alliances that extend open standards and add functionality to BladeCenter technology. "IBM is going out and finding best-of-breed technology and incorporating it [in BladeCenter], and that's really helping them out in the market," said Joe Vaught, COO of PCPC, a Houston-based solution provider and IBM Business Partner.