XMPP Is Hotter Than Ever: Cisco Acquires Jabber, Inc

September 19, 2008

Cisco just announced they are acquiring Jabber, Inc. This is great news for the XMPP community. It shows that big business is excited about real time communication and that they don’t have time for walled gardens. This news is getting discussed a lot, but here are some things other people aren’t talking about yet.

Branding Confusion

First of all, Cisco is aquiring Jabber, Inc, also known as jabber.com. The naming is slightly unfortunate because many will wonder what will happen to XMPP and Jabber after the acquisition.

The answer is nothing. The XSF is the maintainer of the standards. Jabber, Inc is just one of many commerical vendors in the XMPP space, just like Microsoft is just one of many HTTP server vendors.

What About Our Patron Saint?

Peter Saint-Andre, a cornerstone of the XMPP community, is able to work on XMPP full time thanks to the generosity of Jabber, Inc. This is just one of the many ways that Jabber, Inc has given back to this community.

I talked to Peter about this, and he said Cisco is committed to XMPP and by proxy, him. I didn’t expect this to change, but I’m glad to know for sure.

XMPP versus SIMPLE

I would think that Cisco would be all over SIMPLE due to their focus on SIP. Jabber XCP, the server software Jabber, Inc sells, does have SIMPLE integration, but Joe Hildebrand, CTO of Jabber, Inc, told me that Cisco is focused on XMPP with this acquisition.

This looks to be another nail in the coffin for SIMPLE.

Only The Beginning

This is only the beginning of the action. At nearly a decade old, XMPP is starting to mature, and big companies are lining up.

They aren’t the only ones. Twitter, Yammer, and other startups are trying to take XMPP services to the next level. I think we’ll see the real innovation continue to originate within the community for some time. The big companies will be focused on the traditional IM applications for a while.

It’s already been an exciting and unforgettable year for XMPP, and it’s only going to keep getting better.

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