Intel has expanded its network of software development tools, training and advice to internal software developers within the enterprise.

The increase in the programme's scope coincides with a realignment of the services that Intel offered to developers under the newly formed Intel Software Network, as well as the unveiling of its new line of Xeon processors for high-end four-way servers.

The programmes previously only targeted independent software developers and hardware developers that had to work with Intel's technology.

"We were not a one-stop shop before," Pat Gelsinger, Intel's senior vice president and general manager of the Digital Enterprise Group, told vnunet.com. "If you weren't a Morgan Stanley, we didn't have a place to take you."

Both internal developers and partners should profit from the realignment, but it will be most beneficial for smaller IT shops.

Intel sees a need for the new programme now that 64-bit extensions are starting to catch on in the enterprise, in addition to the rise of wireless technologies.

The Intel Software Network includes a development kit to create mobile applications, a programme that helps developers prepare their applications for multi-core processors and access to test configurations of Itanium and Xeon systems.

Membership of the programme is free, but developers have to pay a fee to gain access to the mobile software development.