Intel catches the Web 2.0 train with SaaS package

Stan Beer
Wednesday, 08 November 2006 15:28

Your IT - Home IT

Intel's investment arm Intel Capital has backed all sorts of software and hardware ventures over the years. The latest such venture is SuiteTwo, a conglomeration of Web 2.0 software as a service (SaaS) applications from different developers being marketed under one brand with a single sign-on.

SuiteTwo currently includes four applications from developers Six Apart, Socialtext, NewsGator and SimpleFeed. The package will be marketed, administered and supported by a company called SpikeSource, which plans to add further SaaS applications to the stable.

While the current packages focus on collaboration tools, such as Wiki building, blogging, and RSS reading and syndication, future applications on the drawing boards for SuiteTwo include podcasting, business networking and mobility services.

Although the SuiteTwo media announcement didn't mention it, a natural addition to the stable of Web 2.0 applications would also be office productivity tools which provide a distinct advantage in collaborative capabilities compared to their desktop bound counterparts.

In addition, the new service will provide a degree of operating system independence. SuiteTwo will run on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, and Microsoft Windows.

"This was a unique opportunity to actively create an effective software suite that delivers heightened capabilities to the enterprise ecosystem," said Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital. "Intel Capital is the only global venture capital organization of its kind that can spearhead a project like this by offering an engagement with Intel business units and international promotion through appropriate channels.

Distributors will have the option to resell the suite and then Intel will get a nominal fee for deploying it via the Intel Channel Marketplace. The price range is from $175 to $200 per user per year.