IBM, VMware and NSEC Agree on Partnership for Office Tools

The IBM-native Lotus Symphony line of office apps will be offered in its portable version on NSEC products, such as the successful Keepod, the slimmest USB device in the world. IBM, VMWare and NSEC made this announcement on Tuesday, November 19, 2009, through an official press release by IBM.

This means that users will be able to buy portable USB devices from NSEC with IBM's Lotus Symphony office tools already installed using VMWare software, like ThinApp (application virtualization software that enables the portable version of Lotus Symphony to work properly).

The combined solution will be more secure because every time a user will want to access a document on the USB device, Lotus Symphony will open it for them without installing any permanent or temporary files on the host computer. By keeping all the data on the portable stick, user privacy will not be put into any jeopardy of data theft risks. For now, NSEC's prime product Keepod will benefit from the new partnership.

“With this Keepod offering, we are able to extend Symphony benefits to many new users,” said Kevin Cavanaugh, vice president, Messaging and Collaboration, IBM Lotus. “Our goal with Lotus Symphony software is to provide a fully capable alternative to Microsoft Office, giving business and consumers alike real choice and cost savings.”

”Delivering applications on the Keepod platform provides a real added value to businesses in terms of mobility, IT flexibility, security and cutting costs. Partnering with IBM and VMware created a solution that is a safe choice for IT managers in businesses of any size,” said Nissan Bahar, CEO of NSEC.

In the fight for office space supremacy, IBM took another big step with OpenOffice, Microsoft Office and Google Docs, in a challenge that rivals the Browser Wars at the start of the decade. The fight and public interest seem to have taken two separate directions in recent months, either for all-around availability, or for document privacy and data security.