Enterprise software firms Sirius Corporation and Scalix have announced an alliance to promote the deployment of open source groupware solutions in European enterprises.

Scalix offers Linux-based email, calendaring and messaging which can reduce cost and complexity with a field-proven collaboration platform based on Linux and open standards. It is supported by an open source development model.

Sirius is a European IT services group specialising in enterprise-ready open source software.

Both companies already have Specsavers Opticians Group as a major client, and are looking to use its integration of open source technologies as a template for similar deployments.

The partnership will see Scalix's email and calendaring technologies incorporated into the Sirius Enterprise Stack. The integration will be completed during the third quarter of 2007, the companies said.

Mark Taylor, chief executive at Sirius Corporation, claimed that the partnership will "fill the gap in the complete open source stack".