BlueTie Acquires Wonderfile, Takes on SharePoint

BlueTie, which provides hosted messaging and collaboration solutions to the enterprise, has finalized a deal to acquire web-based file sharing application Wonderfile. The company says it’s part of an overall play to take on Google and Microsoft with a channel-ready SharePoint alternative. Here are some insights.

The ArcStone-developed Wonderfile, according to BlueTie’s press release, “intelligently organizes files in the cloud” by tagging them according to subject matter rather than sorting them out into folders. Users can set file permissions and collaborate from the browser.

Financial terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed, but sooner rather than later, BlueTie says, its partner base will be able to resell the Wonderfile solution to businesses that want collaboration but don’t want to spring for expensive SharePoint licenses.

“The channel was clamoring for a simple business collaboration tool, from a company that doesn’t compete against its own partners,” said BlueTie President Jeremy Hunter, in a prepared statement.

BlueTie already aims to enhance flexibility with hosted services, with the option to switch between their house brand and Microsoft deployments on a per-user basis. But I’m a little skeptical if Wonderfile is enough to really make BlueTie a SharePoint competitor at all, since Wonderfile doesn’t have major mind share among current SharePoint users.

Also of note: Open source upstarts such as Alfresco are positioning their wares against SharePoint as well.

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