IBM announced that it is launching IBM Docs, which is all set to lock horns with Office 365 and Google Docs.
IBM product manager Jeanette Barlow said the application’s beta version is out and IBM Docs seeks to integrate more collaborative elements together.
It allows organisations to set security levels within various sections of a document, and this feature is undergoing testing with one of the government clients.
After the beta is tested, the final version will go up later this year, though some customers will start deploying the service in private clouds in the first half.
IBM Docs includes a suite of office-based applications such as a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation tool, which currently runs on Greenhouse.
IBM Docs is part of IBM’s LotusLive Cloud platform, which will be rebranded to IBM Smart Cloud for Social Business.
IBM’s director Ed Bril, in a blog, said to help employees keep documents moving, IBM Docs allows people to work openly or privately with provision to assign all or part of a file to peers.
"The software shows all of a document’s versions, enabling employees to track usage and changes," said Bril.
When Apache releases the next version of OpenOffice in the second half of 2012, IBM will roll out IBM Docs as its pack of connectors.
