Intel Capital, the investment arm of the global semiconductor leader, brought together a number of companies into SuiteTwo, a hardware appliance containing several collaborative software applications.
SimpleFeed
Socialtext
SpikeSource
Six Apart
Newsgator
Like I said, “almost.” One of these things is not like the other, etc.
All of these companies have Intel Capital in common as a contact point, bringing them together to create SuiteTwo. Each provides software stemming from their area of expertise. This means enterprise strength wikis, news aggregation, RSS feed creation and distribution, blogging, and a platform to integrate them all comes in a single hardware appliance.
Mark Carlson, CEO of SimpleFeed, said in a phone call from the Summit that Intel’s global sales channels plan to target small- and medium-sized businesses with SuiteTwo. He quipped that, for Intel, “$500 million is a medium-sized business.”
Carlson told me their involvement with SuiteTwo began with a shadowy call from Intel last winter, to gauge his firm’s interest in the project. Through May and June, the project jelled into the SuiteTwo concept as the different companies continued talks and development through the summer.
“The last few weeks have been frantic,” Carlson said, with some relief evident in his voice.
Sales should begin in the first quarter of 2007. The launch price had been a secret (and is subject to change), but according to Carlson someone blurted out it would be $175 per user for SuiteTwo.
—
Tag:
Add to 
Bookmark Murdok: 
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
