NetSuite takes business to the clouds

NetSuite has unveiled its SuiteCloud Ecosystem, an offering of on-demand development tools and services designed to help customers and commercial software developers take advantage of the significant economic benefits of cloud computing, says eChannel Line.

SuiteCloud enables customers to run their core business operations in the cloud, and software developers to target new markets quickly with newly created mission-critical business applications built on top of mature business processes.

The SuiteCloud Ecosystem also includes the SuiteCloud Developer Network, a comprehensive developer program that helps accelerate the development of rich business-oriented applications.

Salesforce.com has begun tailoring its business software to help people harness the power of social media, states Network World.

During the past year, the company has taken several steps to make its business applications work alongside popular consumer applications like Facebook, Google and Twitter.

The San Francisco-based vendor aims to makes its business applications more social in order to uproot its rivals Oracle and SAP, and have revealed that organisations using its customer service application would be able to connect it to sites such as Twitter.

Mike Lazaridis, co-CEO of Research in Motion (RIM), is expected to take the stage at the wireless industry's annual trade show in Las Vegas in April and open the virtual doors to RIM's new online store, says Business Week.

It's the first of several major assaults by rivals on Apple's fast-growing iPhone application online store.

Apple has stoked demand for the device by offering thousands of software applications from independent developers through its applications store. Nokia, Microsoft and Palm plan to follow RIM with virtual software stores of their own this year.