McAfee.com’s .NET Initiative

Taking a page from Microsoft’s forthcoming .NET program of putting its applications online, McAfee.com will announce its own similarly-named “.NET Initiative from McAfee.com” at the Comdex tradeshow Monday. McAfee.com uses the ASP (Application Service Provider) model to host applications that registered users can access from any Internet-connected computer.

While details are scant at this point, the Sunnyvale-based company says it plans to offer online or .NET services to small and medium-sized businesses, much as it already offers anti-virus and security applications online to consumers. McAfee.com is a spin-off of Network Associates which targets the corporate/enterprise market. A McAfee.com spokesman says the services announced Monday will be available immediately in beta form with the finished release scheduled for January.

In the announcement for Monday’s event, the company states:

“This initiative will launch a series of services for businesses, making McAfee.com the first company to deliver a comprehensive set of .NET solutions, enabling businesses and enterprises to operate in the next-generation Internet.” The new venture is further described a significant expansion from McAfee.com’s successful consumer focus to include the business-to-business market.

A few other details emerge in an invitation to register for a Webcast where it states:

Find out how the .NET Service Center:

*Substantially decreases the Total Cost of Ownership for your business.

*Allows you to stay on top of the ever-changing world of technology.

*Offers rapid deployment of solutions to ensure that your employees have the tools and resources they need – when and where they need them.