Airtuit Rises Above The Competition

There are nearly 100 wireless middleware application providers worldwide, and all of them offer essentially the same thing: software and services that make business applications and content available to mobile devices. With such a vast list of players to choose from, IT managers have to find something special that differentiates one supplier from another.

Late last year, Eastman Chemical Co. decided to add wireless access to its IT infrastructure so employees and customers could get a variety of applications via mobile devices. "The mobile user community is the fastest-growing segment of the chemicals community, bar none. We have to have plans in place," says David Hrivnak, principal emerging digital technology analyst for the Kingsport, Tenn., company.

But the overload of vendor choices shocked Hrivnak. "I was appalled by how many companies are in this space right now,'' he says. After spending two months reviewing wireless middleware providers, Eastman Chemical chose Air-tuit (formerly Phone Online Inc.) and its BlueMoon 2.5, which Airtuit began shipping last week. BlueMoon 2.5 includes an application development kit and an application server.

The BlueMoon installation will let customers access Eastman Chemical's Web site via wireless devices and let employees access Microsoft Exchange data. In the future, Eastman Chemical plans to integrate BlueMoon with its SAP R/3 system so customers can review and make changes to accounts.

The SAP R/3 link also will let purchasing employees participate in chemical auctions using mobile devices. "Web-enabled phones make a lot of sense because we don't want our buyers tied to a desk," Hrivnak says.

Surprisingly, though, it wasn't BlueMoon's features that attracted Eastman Chemical. "A lot of companies seemed to offer similar technology,'' Hrivnak says. The sales clincher was Airtuit's willingness to serve. Hrivnak says Airtuit stuck to the deployment schedule and delivered all the promised features. "It impressed us," he says.

Vendors must focus on service and support, analysts say. "Every middleware product has the same pitch--any content through any network through any device--and they all work the same way," says Craig Mathias, a principal with Farpoint Group.

IT departments also should look at a potential provider's financial health. "You can see a scenario where the company is going to fold into something else at some point, so look for strong middleware partners," says Ken Dulaney, VP of mobile computing for Gartner.

BlueMoon 2.5 is available now and is priced at $50,000 per server.