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Salesforce.Com Launches Private Beta for Chatter

By IDG News Service Thu, Feb 18, 2010

Salesforce.com announced a private beta program for Chatter, the enterprise collaboration platform announced last year, positioning it as an alternative to Microsoft SharePoint and IBM Lotus Notes.

Chatter incorporates features such as profiles, status updates from people or applications, document sharing and integrations with third-party sources such as Facebook, Twitter and Google Buzz. 100 companies will participate in the beta.

Applications sold on Salesforce.com's AppExchange can be tied into Chatter, which also includes support for mobile devices.

Additionally, Salesforce.com is providing programmers who use its Force.com development platform with pre-built ‘social components’ for creating collaborative applications or adding features.

Chatter's general release date will come sometime this year, according to Salesforce.com. It will be included in paid versions of Salesforce CRM and Force.com, and will also be available in a separate edition costing $50 per user per month that bundles Chatter, Salesforce Content and Force.com.

“Initially, cloud computing was about rapid deployments, quicker returns on investment and easier use. Cloud 2 is very different. We're going to see new types of collaboration, new types of productivity, and see real-time activity become a critical part of it,” said Marc Benioff, CEO, Salesforce.com.

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