Microsoft, IBM, and Gateway Sign on as Sponsors of Planet IT

Microsoft, IBM and Gateway signed on as charter sponsors of CMPnet’s Planet IT, a new, members-only, online community for information technology (IT) executives set to debut in September.

Planet IT will be aimed at IT executives on the Internet–buyers with millions of dollars in annual corporate technology spending authority. Spending by the sponsors was not disclosed.

“Planet IT will act as a huge, dynamic extranet for IT pros,” said Rebecca Barna, vice-president/group publisher for CMP’s Internet Media Group. “It will combine in-depth editorial with unique community features to quickly endear itself among both its users and the advertisers who need to reach these users.”

Planet IT will be organized into10 Technology Centers: Year 2000, data mining, networking, Internet/intranet, desktop computing, enterprise applications, application development, systems management, and mobile computing.