Microsoft and Cisco make nice

Microsoft and Cisco pulled together a press event in New York to show how they could simultaneously compete and cooperate. Cisco CEO John Chambers and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer sat down before a roomful of reporters for an interview with PBS talker Charlie Rose to discuss détente.

Seven joint initiatives covering IT architecture, security, mobile communications and IPTV were announced at the event that formalized existing alignments between the two tech giants. Dynamically, the two companies are somewhat interdependent. Cisco is more active on the network level; Microsoft, the user level. But Microsoft hasn't developed a stellar reputation for playing nice, to the point where it was slapped down by Washington. Motley Fool analyst Anders Bylund noted that the very public CEO summit was a way to reassure business customers that Microsoft applications and Cisco gear would continue working together.

Meanwhile, Microsoft executives at the VoiceCon trade show in San Francisco this week reportedly said the company's new unified communications platform--Office Communications Server 2007--would debut in October.

For more:
- BusinessWeek provides background here
- Information Week covers the VoiceCon goings-on here