Magic Software has announced it is extending its business application development and deployment platform, called uniPaaS, to mobile apps. This will enable businesses to develop native apps for mobiles or push existing ones out to mobile devices.
Initially available for BlackBerry devices, it will be extended to Android during Q3 this year, Apple the following quarter and Windows Phone 7 early next year. It already supports earlier versions of Windows Phone. It can be used for apps running on smartphones and tablets, Magic Software told CBR.
For customers looking to push existing business applications out to mobile devices, uniPaaS supports Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, IBM and, "all the big guys," according to David Akka, UK MD at Magic. As well as sales-oriented applications such as saleforce.com and other CRM apps, Magic believes any task-oriented app could be extended out to mobile devices.
The smaller screens on mobile devices means that customers will often create mashups of applications, enabling users to access more than one app at the same time, Akka told CBR. "Mobile users need all the data and information on one screen, which is where mashups come in. For example a user might approve a purchase order through SAP and have the information pushed through to salesforce.com," he said.
The ability to mashup data from two or more applications is one potential reason why approaching mobile apps this way is better than going direct to the vendor, Akka said: "Vendors often want the complete app on a mobile but users will usually want just certain bits or the ability to mash the data up with data from a different system. This is a cheaper way of doing that."
Akka added that, generally speaking, additional software licences are not required although in some cases customers may be required to buy an API licence.
"With today’s proliferation of mobile platforms, companies require a mobile development strategy that targets multiple operating systems" said Guy Bernstein, CEO of Magic Software. "Our solution addresses the challenges of enterprise mobility by providing enterprises with a device-independent and future-proof approach."
"With this new offering, we can provide organizations, and in particular corporate IT teams, with a highly efficient and versatile platform for developing mobile enterprise applications, as well as presenting independent software vendors (ISVs) with a golden opportunity to generate new business. In addition, this offering not only supports mobile deployment, but also paves the way for Cloud deployment of enterprise applications with the same development effort," Bernstein added.
CBR recently spoke to Magic Software’s UK MD David Akka in great detail. Read the full interview here.
