Deloitte Ties Hosting Knot

Deloitte Consulting is aiming to stake a stronger position in the market for hosting Web sites and managing applications over the Internet through a far-reaching partnership with Intira.

The consulting giant will announce a pact with Web hoster Intira this week that will see the companies jointly market their services to Fortune 1000 clients. To forge more than just a paper partnership, Deloitte has taken a minority equity stake in Intira, and will use the Pleasanton, Calif., firm to host its own Web site and several enterprise applications.

The companies are also set to announce their first joint customer — a contract with Longs Drugs Stores to host its Web site, as well as host and manage several enterprise applications over the Internet.

"Both companies have invested a significant amount of time, effort, and money into creating this partnership," said Bernie Schneider, president and chief executive of Intira. "We wanted to be sure it would be more than just a press release."

"This way we both have skin in the game," added Craig Hodgetts, managing director of outsourcing in Deloittes Americas unit.

The firms would not reveal how much money Deloitte has invested in privately held Intira, but Schneider said Intira will give Deloitte a minority equity stake of "less than 10 percent — but at the higher end of that range."

Deloitte will provide services that include application design, construction, integration, and ongoing management and support, while Intira will supply the infrastructure to host large-scale Web sites and deliver hosted applications over the Web.

Under the Longs outsourcing contract, Intira will host Longs Web site, which features more than 27 million pages of health content, as well as its e-commerce apps for ordering and purchasing drugs online.