Local distie sees opps in Microsoft and Xandros deal

Custom Technology, the Australian distributor for Xandros’ Scalix, has welcomed the announcement from Xandros about its collaboration expansion with Microsoft.

Gordon Hubbard, managing director at Custom Technology told CRN, the Microsoft and Xandros expansion means collaboration between Xandros licenses protocols will enable Scalix e-mail servers to better interoperate with Microsoft’s exchange.

“We have been a Scalix software distributor for a number of years. This agreement expands on the ongoing Microsoft-Xandros collaboration and will allow interoperability between Scalix and smartphones, something not possible before,” said Hubbard.

According to Hubbard both companies' commitment to protocol licensing and technical cooperation will help to provide more email choices and value.

“By continuing their focus on mixed-source solutions, Xandros and Microsoft are demonstrating how protocol-level collaboration can benefit customers who rely on a mix of Windows-based and Linux systems,” he said.

Horacio Gutierrez, vice president, Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft said by licensing the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol and the Outlook Exchange Transport Protocol, Scalix Mail Servers can now synchronise data over wireless networks with Microsoft Exchange Server as well as various email clients that use these and other Microsoft protocols.

“The expansion of our agreement with Xandros is a strong example of how collaboration through intellectual property licensing can foster innovation that benefits the overall IT ecosystem,” he said.