.KEYWORD strategy
.FLYINGHEAD PALM’S WIRELESS STRATEGY
.TITLE Palm’s enterprise offerings move forward with recent deals
.FEATURE
.SUMMARY Over the past few months, Palm has made two important steps in the company’s enterprise strategy to provide businesses with complete and easy-to-implement IT management solutions and as well as a secure, server-based messaging platform. Contributing Editor Steve Niles discusses how Palm’s recent acquisition of ThinAirApps, Inc., as well as the memorandum of understanding signed with XcelleNet, Inc. are helping the company meet its goals.
.AUTHOR Steve Niles
Over the past few months, Palm has made two important steps in the company’s enterprise strategy to provide businesses with complete and easy-to-implement IT management solutions and to offer enterprise customers a secure, server-based messaging platform. On December 12, 2002, Palm, Inc. and ThinAirApps, Inc. announced that they had signed a definitive agreement for Palm to acquire ThinAirApps, a privately held, New York-based developer of software and applications enabling secure wireless access to corporate email and other critical enterprise data. This acquisition led to the development of the Palm i705 Enterprise Wireless Messaging Solution.
Then, on February 6, 2002, XcelleNet, Inc., a provider of management solutions for distributed enterprises, and Palm, Inc. announced a memorandum of understanding outlining their intention to work together to deliver management solutions to enterprise customers deploying the Palm i705 Enterprise Wireless Messaging Solution. The Palm i705 Enterprise Wireless Messaging Solution is discussed in some detail elsewhere in this issue of PalmPower’s Enterprise Edition. For now, we’ll take a closer look at these two strategic deals and what they mean for you, the enterprise customer.
.H1 ThinAirApps acquisition
ThinAirApps, Inc. (at http://www.thinairapps.com) has been a wireless software leader since their introduction of the industry’s first multi-device behind-the-firewall wireless platform in 1999. ThinAirApps provides wireless groupware and enterprise data access solutions, such as Identicon DB, an infrastructure product that enables rapid development of secure, wireless, rich-client applications capable of interacting with any standard relational database. ThinAir technology is in use in over 130 enterprises worldwide.
Palm’s acquisition of ThinAirApps was valued at 19 million dollars and was paid for with Palm common stock. The move marked a commitment by Palm’s Solutions Group to offer enterprise customers a secure, server-based messaging platform and laid a foundation for future strategic relationships with enterprise application providers.
As an active licensee of ThinAirApps products, Palm’s Solutions Group had a long-standing relationship with that company even before the acquisition. ThinAirApps groupware technology had allowed Palm employees in the United States to access various Microsoft Outlook functions on their wireless Palm VII handhelds, including calendar, email, contacts, tasks, and notes. It was also central to Palm’s own behind-the-firewall email solution for employees and customers. In addition, Palm had been working with ThinAirApps throughout 2001 on the development of server technologies for Palm’s next-generation, behind-the-firewall email and messaging solutions.
The acquisition was also part of Palm’s plan to strengthen its existing enterprise skill set, and Palm expected most of ThinAirApps’ employees to continue with Palm, including the engineering team.
In fact, Jonathan R. Oakes, the former CEO of ThinAirApps, is now Palm’s Director of Enterprise Strategy and Planning. At the time, Oakes said of the deal, "This move by Palm’s Solutions Group will give ThinAirApps access to an installed base of potentially millions of handheld users going wireless in the next phase of the handheld revolution. With the addition of ThinAirApps technologies to Palm’s own email client software, notification, and push technologies, Palm will rise to the top of the short list for enterprises going mobile."
The acquisition gives the Solutions Group a number of key advantages:
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET An end-to-end solution that includes device, server and client software to meet the primary needs of Palm’s corporate customers;
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Software assets that enhance Palm’s opportunities for recurring revenue and application licensing;
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Greater control and influence over the timing and future direction of next-generation enterprise email and messaging applications;
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Key intellectual property and engineering expertise to help strengthen Palm’s existing relationships with enterprise-focused resellers, and middleware and application vendors;
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Enterprise server-side software assets that make it easier for corporations to standardize on the Palm platform.
.END_LIST
.H1 XcelleNet agreement
XcelleNet, Inc. (at http://www.XcelleNet.com) provides solutions designed to allow its customers to take control over the devices, applications, and data distributed across the enterprise. Companies can use XcelleNet solutions to manage laptops in the field, retail and branch office systems on the WAN, and PCs running on the LAN. XcelleNet’s solution provides tools for managing devices, along with the applications and data that reside on them, over both wired and wireless networks.
The memorandum of understanding signed between XcelleNet, Inc. and Palm, Inc. outlined their intention to work together to deliver management solutions to enterprise customers deploying the Palm i705 Enterprise Wireless Messaging Solution. XcelleNet’s management solution could be installed on each Palm i705 handheld when IT provisions the devices for deployment. Having the Palm i705 handheld in a "management-ready" state would give enterprises the ability to easily deploy and manage these mobile devices, which could increase user productivity and reduce the cost of supporting those workers.
According to Joan Herbig, chief executive officer of XcelleNet, "Palm handhelds are used by many mobile professionals in large enterprises to provide immediate access to vital business information. Pairing the new Palm i705 Wireless Messaging Solution with XcelleNet would make a powerful enterprise solution. Companies would have the tools to take control of these highly mobile devices and the data they contain while empowering end users with business information wherever they’re working."
.H1 Conclusion
These two deals demonstrate the impressive leaps Palm has made over the last few months to provide its enterprise customers with the tools they need. They carefully identified the needs of this customer base and sought out deals and relationships that would help them fulfill those needs. The Palm i705 Enterprise Wireless Messaging Solution is the key to this. Be sure to learn more about it elsewhere in this issue in the article, "The Palm i705 Wireless Messaging Solution satisfies the needs of today’s business world."
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on ThinAirApps, Inc., visit http://www.thinairapps.com.
For more information on XcelleNet, Inc., visit http://www.XcelleNet.com.
For more information on Palm handhelds, visit http://www.palm.com.
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.BIO
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