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IBM and Yahoo! have jointly announced the release of OmniFind Yahoo! Edition, a product designed to provide search functionality on both the local enterprise and web levels.

The software is available as a free download from Yahoo.

While both companies are downplaying the competitive significance of the move, most analysts see the launch of OmniFind Yahoo! Edition as a posturing tactic to leverage a product into the market that provides an alternative to Google Enterprise.

Some advantages that Yahoo! & IBM claim that OmniFind offers:

•   Benefit from no-charge Website and file system search of up to 500,000 documents

•   Empower employees to rapidly find the information they need from inside the enterprise and the Internet

•   Delight customers with intuitive search-based access to product and service information

•   Integrate seamlessly with Yahoo! Internet search and enable users to search both the enterprise and the Internet from a single interface

•   Install and customize in minutes with intuitive yet powerful administration capabilities

•   Experience immediate ROI with no up-front investment; pay only for support

•   Maintain flexibility for future growth with IBM's comprehensive OmniFind search portfolio

"Together, IBM and Yahoo! are delivering on the promise of making information easier to find, use and share while providing a better search experience for users," said Eckart Walther, vice president of product management for Yahoo! Search.

"This is a valuable tool for helping organizations improve employee productivity by enabling them to more quickly find needed information. By empowering customers and partners to quickly find information on the Web, we're also able to reduce their support costs."

Ambuj Goyal, general manager, IBM Information Management, IBM Software Group adds, "Organizations of all sizes are faced with the problem of too much information residing in different locations and in different formats, making it nearly impossible to quickly extract meaning."

"IBM and Yahoo! are bringing clients closer to the reality of being able to use all of their information and analyze it to resolve customer issues, spot trends, recognize business opportunities and become more flexible."

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Joe is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.