Antenna Software Inc.'s acquisition this week of RPA Wireless Inc. is expected to create one of the largest privately held mobile enterprise software providers and expand implementation options for customers.

The acquisition will combine the resources of Antenna, which primarily offers enterprise implementation with the capability to integrate with systems from such vendors as Siebel and Clarify, with RPA's managed-service capabilities, says Jim Hemmer, president and CEO of Antenna. "The two companies have similar capabilities and similar target markets, but very, very complementary technology platforms that will give us what we think is a tremendous advantage in being able to deploy these capabilities in a number of different ways," Hemmer says.

The combined company will operate under the name Antenna Software and will retain its offices at Antenna's headquarters in New York, and RPA's former headquarters in Jersey City, N.J. Terms of the acquisition weren't disclosed.

"We can now offer everything from a behind-the-firewall enterprise implementation to a managed-service implementation," Hemmer says.

The combined company has about 90 customers, including Hewlett-Packard, Pitney Bowes, and Xerox, he says. The biggest competition for Antenna will come from homegrown wireless implementations, according to Hemmer. Says Hemmer, "We'll be able to offer a very comprehensive product line, and a tremendous speed of implementation."