KIO Networks and Google, Inc. have announced the formation of an alliance in which they will collaborate to market and sell Google Apps, according to a report in today’s El Universal.  Kio Networks is a Mexican company founded in 2001 that operates data centers and related services in Mexico and other Latin American countries.

KIO will contribute its experience in technology and data center management and integration to the alliance. 

Google will contribute its Google Apps platform to the alliance.  Google Apps is a web-delivered software application and collaboration system that includes tools for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations, a shared calendaring system, and access to a flexible intranet system.  It is also the only application and collaboration system that guaranties information back-up through multiple data centers. 

Google Apps is known in the IT industry as a SaaS (Software as a Service), a software depoloyment model in which applications are hosted by a service provider and delivered to customers via the internet in exchange for a subscription fee.

Be prepared for the arrival of more SaaS programs from software vendors: the Google Apps platform appears to be the wave of the future.