This paper introduces XMPP and suggests how this technology might be used to help implement Intercloud communication. It gives an introduction to XMPP and how the architecture fits together as well as a discussion of the services it provides `out of the box'. It then discusses secondary benefits of the protocol and highlights how XMPP could be an appropriate base protocol for implementing the Intercloud Control and Management Plane. This is followed by discussion of early results from a research project that looks at the ease of extending XMPP and the tractability of the standardization process.