Watch out Cisco, Polycom and LifeSize. Avaya and Skype plan to announce a strategic agreement for unified communications and collaboration solutions on September 29.
News of the planned partnership comes soon after Avaya announced that it hired ex-Polycom executive Joe Sigrist to head up the video business at Avaya. That marks a bolstered stake in the video place for Avaya, which has been known more as a voice and networking company.
Avaya also recently announced the Avaya Flare Experience, and also a desktop tablet PC device, designed specifically for video conferencing and expected by many to go up against the Cisco Cius when Cisco releases its video conferencing tablet device next year.
The announcement will also follow a commitment by VOIP and video conferencing player Skype, which has strong roots in the consumer market but is also commonly used by business executives who travel in an effort to stay in touch with people on the home front. To tap into that market, Skype recently announced a channel partner program.