IBM on Monday will pull the wraps off its- ‘Bluehouse’, a social networking and collaboration service devised to connect businesses with various partners.

Bluehouse, a Saas (Software-as-a-service) product, incorporates an array of collaboration tools, like IM (instant messaging), Web conferencing, document sharing, profiles, directory and tools to build business networking communities.

Designed on the same lines as Facebook, Bluehouse will allow people to quickly create a collaborative space, but it differs from Facebook in terms of its management features that ensure privacy and other controls that businesses want, unlike Facebook, says IBM.

The service forms a part of larger cloud services initiative at IBM that includes helping independent software developers turn their applications into SaaS services, which the company can use to help businesses develop internal clouds for their own service delivery.

Currently available for free during its public beta release, Bluehouse service will strike subscription pricing once the testing ends in the coming months.