Internet incubator CMGI Inc. continued to broaden its Internet horizons Tuesday with the formation of CMGI Solutions, a new unit that will focus on e-business products and services.
CMGI said the unit will bundle various products and services to help its enterprise clients decrease the amount of time required to launch new applications and offerings. Ronald E. Spears, formerly president and chief executive officer of e.spire Communications, will serve as CMGI Solutions’ president and chief executive officer.
“It’s clear that to meet the urgency our clients are demonstrating in their move to the Web, we cannot provide them with one custom solution at a time,” Spears said.
The unit also Tuesday rolled out its first product, CMGI Solutions Port. The product contains a number of tools that allow businesses to quickly launch e-business applications over pre-existing networks. Solutions Port offers Internet tools to manage advertising, communities, instant messaging, customer management applications, e-commerce payment and fulfillment, hosting, content delivery and search.
CMGI Chairman David Wetherell said the unit will draw on the e-business experience of several recent acquisitions including Nascent Technologies, a developer of tools allowing customers to access e-mail using any browser of Web-enabled wirelss device; NetWright LLC, a Web development firm; and ClaraVista Corp., consultants in e-business and Web design.
“The idea for CMGI Solutions grew organically from our existing network of Internet businesses and their customers’ interest in applying our collective Internet experience to deliver a range of e-business products and services,” he said.
The unit includes a work force of 150 that will come largely from the staffs of recently-acquired companies.
