A leading IBM Corp executive has hinted that the company may move to join the AT&T Co and British Telecommunications Plc-led Open Systems Interconnection/Network Management Forum, if the Forum forges closer links with the Corporation for Open Systems, of which IBM is a member. According to Computer Systems News, Ellen Hancock, vice-president and general manager of IBM Communications Systems, said that the two bodies should work together to identify protocols for network management interoperability, to stop the industry becoming overcrowded with standards bodies; she confirmed that the two are now negotiating. Sources close to the OSI/Network Management Forum have reacted favourably to the statement; Digital Communications Associates Inc, voting member of the Forum, said that it would look forward to a firm IBM proposal, and to the inclusion of NetView in the forum – this would leave only one major vendor, DEC, outside the organisation. In the statement, the IBM representative maintained that despite the decision to sell most of the Rolm PABX arm, there is still firm commitment to telecommunications within the company.
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