Intel reaches out to internal developers

Intel has expanded its network of software development tools, training and advice to internal software developers within the enterprise.

The increase in the programme's scope coincides with a realignment of the services that Intel offered to developers under the newly formed Intel Software Network, as well as the unveiling of its new line of Xeon processors for high-end four-way servers.

The programmes previously only targeted independent software developers and hardware developers that had to work with Intel's technology.

"We were not a one-stop shop before," Pat Gelsinger, Intel's senior vice president and general manager of the Digital Enterprise Group, told vnunet.com. "If you weren't a Morgan Stanley, we didn't have a place to take you."

Both internal developers and partners should profit from the realignment, but it will be most beneficial for smaller IT shops.

Intel sees a need for the new programme now that 64-bit extensions are starting to catch on in the enterprise, in addition to the rise of wireless technologies.

The Intel Software Network includes a development kit to create mobile applications, a programme that helps developers prepare their applications for multi-core processors and access to test configurations of Itanium and Xeon systems.

Membership of the programme is free, but developers have to pay a fee to gain access to the mobile software development.