So Intel has announced, at the Web 2.0 Conference, that it is launching into the Web 2.0 space with SuiteTwo. This integrated suite, courtesy of a collaboration with numerous partner companies, sees Intel positioning itself in the same way as Google does with its services. That is a collection of interconnected services sharing a common UI.

Certainly, when it comes to Web 2.0, Intel appears to have done its homework before jumping into bed with partner companies, choosing some very well respected and high profile names to sleep with: Six Apart, Socialtext and NewsGator for example. Not forgetting SpikeSource which is responsible for all the integration, maintenance and support across the suite.

So what is SuiteTwo, exactly? Well, it’s a collection of advanced web applications that cover pretty much all the business bases from blogging to Wiki, with a little RSS and search functionality thrown in. What is more interesting to me is what it isn’t, or rather what you don’t get as of yet. No business networking nor podcasting are amongst the functions that have been left out. For a big fish looking to make a splash in the Web 2.0 pond, this really is extraordinary in my opinion. Surely it would have been better to delay things until these partnerships could be cemented, so as to have a fully rounded product suite from day one, than to launch a half-hearted suite?

Perhaps that is a bit harsh, after all you do get:

• Socialtext Wiki
  
• NewsGator RSS aggregator
  
• SimpleFeed RSS syndication
  
• Movable Type blogging

Of course, Intel is gambling somewhat that there are enough businesses yet to jump on the whole blogging and beyond bandwagon, and that those that there are will be attracted by a turnkey solution such as this. The chances are, I suspect, that there are and they will. It’s single sign on, runs on Windows and Linux (SUSE and Red Hat) and the SpikeSource driven interface is rich and easy to use.

"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 Intel Channel Marketplace will help bring this solution to the broader enterprise community."

The proof of that particular pudding will be in the pricing, however, and that’s one thing that Intel has been keeping rather quiet about.