Salesforce.com makes Chatter social tool free for all

Enterprise cloud computing firm Salesforce.com has introduced a free version of its social collaboration tool, Chatter, for non-Salesforce.com users to accelerate cloud computing adoption.

Chatter is a private collaboration application and platform for enterprises. Similar to social networking sites Facebook and Twitter, Chatter includes features such as employee profiles, status updates, file-sharing and real-time feeds.

Chatter was previously a paid add-on for businesses that use Salesforce.com's other services. A free version was introduced for businesses using Salesforce.com services at the end of last year.

The Chatter tool is now available to businesses that aren't users of Salesforce.com products via its Chatter.com website.

Speaking to Computer Weekly, Tim Barker, vice-president of strategy EMEA at Salesforce.com, said the company is using Chatter.com as part of its strategy focused on social and mobile market trends. "We believe the future of enterprise software looks more like Facebook on the iPad than Yahoo on the PC," he said.

"We're using Chatter.com to open the door and show businesses a new model for social networking, collaboration and cloud computing. We think this will accelerate adoption and usage of cloud computing globally," he said.

To use Chatter.com, sign up with your business e-mail address and invite colleagues to join your company Chatter account.

Salesforce.com launched mobile applications for Chatter on Apple, Google Android and Research in Motion (RIM) Blackberry devices in September last year.