Intel Launches Software Partner Program…

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 23, 2006 – Intel Corporation today announced the formation of the Intel Software Partner Program, a membership-based program for independent software vendors (ISVs). The program is open to any software company developing commercial products or services for Intel technologies, such as Intel Core 2 Duo, Intel Xeon and Intel Itanium processors. The Intel Software Partner Program offers a portfolio of planning, technical, marketing and sales resources designed to facilitate a member’s ability to grow business, reach new customers and stay on top of the latest software development, marketing and competitive trends.

The Intel Software Partner Program allows members to align their product development work directly with Intel’s platform technologies as well as with a specific market segment area such as gaming or digital media creation. Intel provides a flexible path for an ISV to develop targeted applications for specific vertical market segments and planning tools to give the partner insight to market opportunities. Members also have the option to choose their level of interaction with Intel and can tailor their program engagement based on their own business objectives.

“Innovation requires the software and hardware communities to work together to deliver value for their customers,” said Renee James, corporate vice president and general manager, Intel Software and Solutions Group. “The Intel Software Partner Program represents a further step by Intel to invest and foster innovation with the software community on Intel platforms. By providing ISVs of all sizes and in all regions the opportunity to access task-specific tools to plan, enable and promote their solution on an Intel platform, we accelerate the adoption of innovative solutions that drive further benefits and opportunities for customers.”

Members of the Intel Software Partner Program have access to a variety of benefits including such planning tools as business acumen training and technology roadmaps; technical resources including application engineering services and developer resource kits; and marketing benefits, such as sales tools, marketing collateral and participation in channel events.

Furthermore, a key benefit of the program is the opportunity to participate in the Intel Channel Marketplace, an online exchange among resellers, distributors and vendors. Intel has been piloting the marketplace in Russia, Taiwan, Thailand and Ukraine with plans to expand to other locations in the future.

“Being a member of the Intel Software Partner Program offers us a valuable opportunity to sell our consumer and small business products to Intel’s reseller and VAR community via a variety of channel and go-to-market programs,” said Julie Parrish, vice president, Symantec Global Channel Office. “This is another example of a broader Symantec and Intel collaboration, where we are bringing increased security and availability to the computing environment.”

“With Intel now delivering platform technologies for Mac OS X- and Windows-based computers, Adobe’s relationship with Intel is even more strategic as we look to deliver our flagship cross-platform products to millions of customers around the world,” said Hal Bennett, vice president of worldwide partner sales at Adobe. “The Intel Software Partner Program brings structure to an already close relationship and ensures that Adobe products will continue to excel on Intel platforms.”

In 2001, Intel created the Intel Early Access Program, focused on providing technical benefits during the product development stage to its member companies. All 2,300 current members of the Intel Early Access Program will be transferred and have the opportunity to participate in the Intel Software Partner Program.