diff --git a/spring-datastore-redis/src/main/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/util/CollectionUtils.java b/spring-datastore-redis/src/main/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/util/CollectionUtils.java
index 84a77c5d8..9bc9815e8 100644
--- a/spring-datastore-redis/src/main/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/util/CollectionUtils.java
+++ b/spring-datastore-redis/src/main/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/util/CollectionUtils.java
@@ -15,13 +15,10 @@
  */
 package org.springframework.datastore.redis.util;
 
-import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.List;
 
-import org.springframework.datastore.redis.serializer.RedisSerializer;
-
 /**
  * Utility class used mainly for type conversion by the default collection implementations.
  * 
@@ -29,15 +26,6 @@ import org.springframework.datastore.redis.serializer.RedisSerializer;
  */
 abstract class CollectionUtils {
 
-	static <E> List<E> deserializeAsList(List<String> input, RedisSerializer serializer) {
-		List<E> result = new ArrayList<E>(input.size());
-		for (String string : input) {
-			E item = serializer.deserialize(string);
-			result.add(item);
-		}
-		return result;
-	}
-
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
 	static <E> Collection<E> reverse(Collection<? extends E> c) {
 		Object[] reverse = new Object[c.size()];
diff --git a/spring-datastore-redis/src/main/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/util/DefaultRedisMap.java b/spring-datastore-redis/src/main/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/util/DefaultRedisMap
similarity index 88%
rename from spring-datastore-redis/src/main/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/util/DefaultRedisMap.java
rename to spring-datastore-redis/src/main/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/util/DefaultRedisMap
index 280b125ed..2cb9c6bed 100644
--- a/spring-datastore-redis/src/main/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/util/DefaultRedisMap.java
+++ b/spring-datastore-redis/src/main/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/util/DefaultRedisMap
@@ -21,13 +21,14 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
 
 import org.springframework.datastore.redis.connection.RedisCommands;
+import org.springframework.datastore.redis.core.RedisOperations;
 
 /**
  * Default {@link RedisMap} implementation.
  * 
  * @author Costin Leau
  */
-public class DefaultRedisMap implements RedisMap {
+public class DefaultRedisMap<K, V> implements RedisMap<K, V> {
 
 	private class DefaultRedisMapEntry implements Map.Entry<String, String> {
 
@@ -60,7 +61,9 @@ public class DefaultRedisMap implements RedisMap {
 	}
 
 	protected final String redisKey;
-	protected final RedisCommands commands;
+	protected final RedisOperations<String, ?> operations;
+	private final MapOperations<String, K, V> mapOps;
+
 
 	/**
 	 * Constructs a new <code>DefaultRedisMap</code> instance.
@@ -68,9 +71,15 @@ public class DefaultRedisMap implements RedisMap {
 	 * @param key
 	 * @param operations
 	 */
-	public DefaultRedisMap(String key, RedisCommands commands) {
+	public DefaultRedisMap(String key, RedisOperations<K, V> operations) {
 		this.redisKey = key;
-		this.commands = commands;
+		this.operations = operations;
+		this.maps = operations.forMap(key);
+	}
+
+	public DefaultRedisList(String key, RedisOperations<String, E> operations) {
+		super(key, operations);
+		listOps = operations.listOps();
 	}
 
 	@Override
diff --git a/spring-datastore-redis/src/main/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/util/RedisMap.java b/spring-datastore-redis/src/main/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/util/RedisMap.java
index 8ad2956aa..48d70a9e5 100644
--- a/spring-datastore-redis/src/main/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/util/RedisMap.java
+++ b/spring-datastore-redis/src/main/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/util/RedisMap.java
@@ -22,9 +22,9 @@ import java.util.Map;
  * 
  * @author Costin Leau
  */
-public interface RedisMap extends RedisStore, Map<String, String> {
+public interface RedisMap<K, V> extends RedisStore<String>, Map<K, V> {
 
-	boolean putIfAbsent(String key, String value);
-	
-	Integer increment(String key, int delta);
+	boolean putIfAbsent(K key, V value);
+
+	Integer increment(K key, int delta);
 }
diff --git a/spring-datastore-redis/src/test/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/connection/AbstractConnectionIntegrationTests.java b/spring-datastore-redis/src/test/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/connection/AbstractConnectionIntegrationTests.java
index 7bdc0a9de..2bed54348 100644
--- a/spring-datastore-redis/src/test/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/connection/AbstractConnectionIntegrationTests.java
+++ b/spring-datastore-redis/src/test/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/connection/AbstractConnectionIntegrationTests.java
@@ -16,15 +16,13 @@
 
 package org.springframework.datastore.redis.connection;
 
-import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 import junit.framework.Assert;
 
 import org.junit.After;
 import org.junit.Before;
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.springframework.datastore.redis.Person;
-import org.springframework.datastore.redis.connection.RedisConnection;
-import org.springframework.datastore.redis.connection.RedisConnectionFactory;
 
 public abstract class AbstractConnectionIntegrationTests {
 
@@ -46,17 +44,16 @@ public abstract class AbstractConnectionIntegrationTests {
 
 	@Test
 	public void testLPush() throws Exception {
-		Integer index = connection.lPush(listName, "bar");
+		Integer index = connection.lPush(listName.getBytes(), "bar".getBytes());
 		if (index != null) {
-			assertEquals((Integer) (index + 1), connection.lPush(listName, "bar"));
+			assertEquals((Integer) (index + 1), connection.lPush(listName.getBytes(), "bar".getBytes()));
 		}
 	}
 
 	@Test
 	public void testSetAndGet() {
-		connection.set("foo", "blah blah");
-		String value = connection.get("foo");
-		Assert.assertEquals("blah blah", value);
+		connection.set("foo".getBytes(), "blah blah".getBytes());
+		Assert.assertEquals("blah blah".getBytes(), connection.get("foo".getBytes()));
 	}
 
 
diff --git a/spring-datastore-redis/src/test/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/serializer/SimpleRedisSerializerTest.java b/spring-datastore-redis/src/test/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/serializer/SimpleRedisSerializerTest.java
index a34e49cd8..f4eb31688 100644
--- a/spring-datastore-redis/src/test/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/serializer/SimpleRedisSerializerTest.java
+++ b/spring-datastore-redis/src/test/java/org/springframework/datastore/redis/serializer/SimpleRedisSerializerTest.java
@@ -125,9 +125,9 @@ public class SimpleRedisSerializerTest {
 	@Test
 	public void testStringEncodedSerialization() {
 		String value = UUID.randomUUID().toString();
-		assertEquals(value, serializer.deserialize(serializer.serializeAsString(value)));
-		assertEquals(value, serializer.deserialize(serializer.serializeAsString(value)));
-		assertEquals(value, serializer.deserialize(serializer.serializeAsString(value)));
+		assertEquals(value, serializer.deserialize(serializer.serialize(value)));
+		assertEquals(value, serializer.deserialize(serializer.serialize(value)));
+		assertEquals(value, serializer.deserialize(serializer.serialize(value)));
 	}
 
 	@Test
@@ -135,6 +135,6 @@ public class SimpleRedisSerializerTest {
 		String value = UUID.randomUUID().toString();
 		Person p1 = new Person(value, value, 1, new Address(value, 2));
 		assertEquals(p1, serializer.deserialize(serializer.serialize(p1)));
-		assertEquals(p1, serializer.deserialize(serializer.serializeAsString(p1)));
+		assertEquals(p1, serializer.deserialize(serializer.serialize(p1)));
 	}
 }
\ No newline at end of file