Socialtext released version 4.6 last week, concentrating in this release on enhancing corporate Intranets by giving them a social component. This continues Socialtext's strategy to portray themselves as the IT-friendly Enterprise 2.0 app.

The new version lets IT incorporate Socialtext Signals microblogging tool into the corporate Intranet. It also provides new access to Lotus Sametime and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Communicator giving users access to instant messaging, as well as microblogging streams that are important to them.

Socialtext CEO Eugene Lee believes this type of social information has the power to move corporate Intranet beyond purely static information. "Traditionally, Intranets have been full of static information because they lacked a human presence," Lee said. As content became stale and document repositories grew crowded, adoption lagged. He believes putting people at the center of the process, by using his company's Enterprise 2.0 tool, the corporate Intranet will be more relevant to users.

Other new features include Google Analytics integration to give administrators greater insight into corporate Intranet usage patterns and the ability for users to get a digest of relevant Signals (microblogs) by email.

Socialtext is attempting to differentiate itself from an increasingly homogenized Enterprise 2.0 marketplace by focusing on IT and now integration in the corporate Intranet. Whether this will work or not is not clear, but this and other recent moves suggest they are trying to find ways to make their tool as relevant as possible to IT decision makers.

For more information:
- see the Socialtext press release

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