IBM is working with Google to integrate the search giant's Desktop for Enterprise tool with its own search technology, to let users retrieve a greater range of information on their desktops.

Users of IBM WebSphere Information Integrator OmniFind Edition, which can trawl databases and other back-office systems, are being offered a free plug-in so they can use the Google interface to search for local documents and emails on their PCs.

Mike Davis of analyst Butler Group said IBM customers will benefit from Google's familiar, easy-to-use interface and fast searches. "Google has [found] a niche providing an uncomplicated, transparent search technology that can [now] be applied to corporate databases and present results that people are used to in the Google environment - it will [boost] adoption and ensure consistency," he said.

The move follows a deal earlier this year which enabled Google's Desktop for Enterprise tool to search IBM's Lotus Notes email messages stored on users' local computers, and so continues Google's "anti-Microsoft strategy", according to Davis.

"It also moves [Google] out of the web and dot-Net environment into the mainstream and corporate, [providing] corporate credibility [for its systems]," said Davis.

Angela Ashenden of analyst Ovum said IBM made a similar deal in the past with search firm X1, and is building a "network of possibilities" to offer customers.
The IBM WebSphere Information Integrator OmniFind Edition plug-in for Google Desktop for Enterprise can be downloaded from IBM's DeveloperWorks site at the web address below.