Intel Announces Web 2.0 Biz Bundle

Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) this week unveiled SuiteTwo, a software bundle of Web 2.0 software services -- including collaboration, blogging, RSS (really simple syndication), search and Wiki technology -- aimed at small- and medium-size businesses.

Announced at the Web 2.0 Conference in San Francisco, SuiteTwo was produced by Intel's investment arm, Intel Capital, and will be available via OEM (original equipment manufacturer) reseller channels and some Intel software partners in about six months.

The package will sell for US$175 to $200 per user annually or $15 to $17 per user monthly.

"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.

Web 2.0 Bundle

SuiteTwo can serve as the foundation for a company's internal collaboration and external marketing efforts, Intel said. The package integrates Six Apart's Movable Type blogging solution, NewsGator and SimpleFeed RSS, and Socialtext Wiki functionality under a single user interface running on Windows, Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) or Suse Linux. The suite's integration platform is provided by SpikeSource.

Subsequent upgrades will include podcasting, business networking and mobile-friendly features, said Intel, and will be available in both English or Japanese versions.

"SuiteTwo demonstrates the benefits of bringing together individual Web 2.0 products into a solution for businesses," said Renee James, corporate vice president and general manager of Intel's software and solutions group.

The tools assembled in SuiteTwo are indeed valuable, and they are probably more valuable in a suite, Basex CEO and Chief Analyst Jonathan Spira told TechNewsWorld. "I definitely agree that an integrated suite with these components can make sense for some people," he added.

Smart Move

Like Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) and AMD (NYSE: AMD), Intel has aligned with developing Web 2.0 application companies, Senior Analyst Laura DiDio told TechNewsWorld.

Intel was looking for new revenue streams while, at the same time, hoping to steer the direction of standards for Web 2.0 sites and services such as Wikipedia, MySpace and YouTube, she claimed.

"Intel has given this a lot of thought," she said. "What they've done here is pretty smart." The company is trying to appeal to smaller work groups within large enterprises, in addition to the small- and medium-size business user, she said, adding that it has assembled the framework and partners to make its new software interesting.