Maybe . . . but maybe not.

Meta Group researchers think that the interoperability provided by the agreements make instant messaging far more attractive in the enterprise world, and give Microsoft a major leg up on the competition. But other analysts in the field are not quite so optimistic.

"It's not interoperability, it's just connectivity," said Genelle Hung an Analyst at at the Radicati Group in Palo Alto, CA. Melanie Turek, a principal research analyst at New York's Nemertes Research agrees, "The deal doesn't so much deliver interoperability as translation services."

Full interoperability could lead to real federation among instant messaging services, which may not be a good thing. "Federation could create a real problem because spim (the IM version of spam) could really take off," says Hung. And Turek agrees, saying, "Any company that opens its enterprise networks to the millions of user on the public services should protect itself against viruses and spim."

But LCS access to the public IM networks should help enterprise instant messaging gain traction, at least among larger corporations. "There has been a lot of talk about enterprise instant messaging not taking off," she said, "and this move should help spur things along by making enterprise IM more viable."

Turek agrees, noting that, "this illustrates our prediction that connectivity is a critical step to enabling IM's growth and long-term survival in the enterprise." At the least, it helps Microsoft's chances. "Companies now have one more reason to install LCS 2005, although they may balk at the extra cost," said Turek.

Customers have to pay services charges to Microsoft over and above the cost of LCS 2005 in order to access the public IM services; the public IM vendors participate in that fee. Even with that, Hung says that the move by Microsoft is brilliant, "It makes sure that all IM traffic stays on the enterprise network. And you cannot get secure IM services for free from anyone."

"Remember," said Hung, "IM is a cool older technology finding its way into new markets. This move makes it look more appealing to more people. However this move is not shaking the world for anyone but MSN, AOL, and Yahoo!"

And maybe Microsoft. Time will tell.