Corel Corp is paying a huge amount of money to integrate Sanga Corp’s Java-written Sanga Pages groupware software (CI No 3,037) into its Corel Office for Java suite, which is due next quarter. Sanga chief executive officer Shane Maine wouldn’t specify to our sister newsletter Online Reporter just how much money was involved, but it is said to be a one-off payment, rather than a royalty scheme. Corel naturally down-played the amount handed over. Sanga Pages will give Corel groupware and workflow capabilities to add to the word processor, spreadsheet and other elements of the suite. It will also enable users of Corel Office to customize their applications, and Sanga said Office-type suites could then be created for separate vertical markets, such as accountants, utilities and so on. This sounds like a good idea, but Corel said it has no plans to do anything like that just now. However, Sanga is planning something similar with its own Sanga Pages suite, a suite of components written entirely in Java with which to write applications to link to and use legacy data. The company said it would emphasize the product’s customization capabilities for various vertical markets when it officially launches the suite in January. Sanga said it would concentrate on enterprise customers, leaving the desktop mass market to the likes of Corel and any other licensees it can snag for its technology. Names including Novell Inc and Computer Associates International Inc have been mooted as planning similar deals to Corel, with one or both of them likely to announce something this week at Internet World in New York City. Sanga will also announce Java Beans and ActiveX support for Sanga Pages at the show, which would enable a Java Beans spreadsheet component could be dropped into a word processor and the component would retain its functionality. Sanga will aim for deals valued between $2m and $10m when it launches Pages next month, according to Maine. The company will work with systems integrators to get in its foot in the door of large corporates in vertical markets. Sanga plans an announcement on Wednesday at Internet World regarding financing options for its customers, but further details were not available at press time.
