Telligent Integrates With SharePoint 2010

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Social-collaboration software developer Telligent Wednesday released a beta version of an integration package for Microsoft SharePoint 2010.

Telligent's software -- including its Evolution Platform, Telligent Enterprise, Telligent Community, and Telligent Analytics -- is built on a Microsoft infrastructure, and supports Microsoft technologies ranging from browsers to enterprise search to unified communications, according to the Dallas-based developer. Microsoft also is a Telligent customer, using the company's products to power more than 30 groups, including product communities for Microsoft Windows, Bing, and Microsoft Office 365, Telligent said.

"This new integration with SharePoint 2010 furthers our commitment to Microsoft and advances our vision of providing game-changing people-centric collaboration,” said Rob Howard, founder and CTO of Telligent, in a statement.

The enterprise social software market is expected to reach $769 million this year, up 15.7% from $664 million in 2010, Gartner said. By 2012, the market could hit the $1 billion mark, the research firm predicted.

As part of its SharePoint 2010 integration package, Telligent has developed a unified platform for knowledge-capture that combines the company's social community software with Microsoft's document collaboration tools, it said. This allows employees to use the Telligent Enterprise interface to check-out, edit, and organize documents, using the controls embedded within Microsoft Office applications. With the Telligent Enterprise user interface, employees can review prior versions of documents and revert to previous editions from within the social collaboration software, according to Telligent.

"Our commitment to integration [of] Microsoft technologies helps companies achieve community by leveraging their Microsoft assets with Telligent," said Wendy Gibson, Telligent CMO, in a release. "The idea is to combine innovative social tools with companies' investments in Microsoft and evolve into a true community where employees feel free to collaborate and innovate."

Because of the integration with SharePoint 2010, workers familiar with the Microsoft application will require no additional training since they will use the same controls and editing tools.

Businesses can connect media libraries within Telligent Enterprise to Microsoft SharePoint 2010 document libraries, and continue to maintain the appropriate level of security and privacy. Through a simple linking technique, files stored within Telligent Enterprise immediately are moved to Microsoft SharePoint 2010, and any changes or additions automatically are captured. In addition, the integration of the two applications includes consolidated messaging, giving SharePoint 2010 members visibility into the activities of users connected to the Telligent platform.

Last month, Telligent released mobile features for Telligent Enterprise and Telligent Community, giving users the ability to access content and collaborate via an interface optimized for touchscreen mobile devices.