Another vendor goes after Web integrators
Intel Corp. has announced a program to help Web integrators that are building e-commerce integration frameworks based on Intel architecture.
Agency.com is the only integrator that has signed up for the program so far, but Intel is promising more partnerships within the next couple of months. Allaire is the first software partner Intel has signed.
Intel’s e-Business Solution Provider program will offer comarketing, training, and matchmaking between integrators and ISPs, as well as hardware and software vendors, said Dan Russell, general manager of the Intel Architecture Content Group.
Russell also promised expanded solutions centers for partners to test their frameworks, although he declined to provide details. Intel has operated centers for partners to test applications for several years, but wants to incorporate its technical knowledge of servers and networking into best practices that would go beyond just testing apps.
Flexible Frameworks
"This program is targeted at companies who are more adept at servicing needs for vertical markets," Russell says. "They may end up with frameworks targeted at large businesses, but with Web front ends and full e-business capability that would be flexible enough for customers ranging from start-ups to large-end users."
Russell adds that Web integrators have not had a good way of working with Intel. The company launched an ISP channel program last spring, but that has been focused largely on partners that sell products rather than solutions.
At the Intel Developer Forum last month, Intel executives announced a middleware framework called "third-generation Internet business" to define how applications communicate over the Internet. However, Russell characterizes that announcement as "a vision" and this new program as a go-to-market strategy.