It's to go: Service hosts portable Web - Reviews - Software - Internet

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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It's to go: Service hosts portable Web

August 30, 2001
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/reviews/software/internet/soa/It-s-to-go-Service-hosts-portable-Web/0,139023437,120105921,00.htm

Need a hand getting a Web application to handheld devices? You might want to pass the job over to AvantGo.

AvantGo has taken its popular consumer-oriented Web content service and made a private-label version available to Internet businesses that want a fast, easy way to get their own Web applications out to thousands of mobile users.

The company already sells server software to companies that want to build their own systems for distributing Web-based applications to handheld computers and wireless phones, but AvantGo found that many customers were asking for a hosted version of the technology so they could get up and go with minimal hassle. And that, says Eric Lundstedt, AvantGo's product manager for application services, led to the creation of AvantGo Enterprise Online, which was launched officially last week.

The new service was a logical extension for AvantGo, Lundstedt says. AvantGo Enterprise Online runs in the same data center - housed at Level 3 Communications' colocation facility in Sunnyvale, Calif. - that supports the 500,000 users of AvantGo Mobile Internet.

AvantGo Enterprise Online offers real-time access for those who have wireless Internet access, via Wireless Markup Language or Handheld Device Markup Language. Some other "transcoding" services, such as Everypath, also serve Web content to wireless mobile devices. But AvantGo Enterprise Online lets users with Palm handheld computers and devices running Microsoft's Pocket PC and Windows CE access Web content even if the device is disconnected: The software synchronises with the AvantGo servers when the device is docked with a PC, storing the information locally.

AvantGo's client software, based on the same code the company provides for AvantGo Mobile Internet, can be customised to include a customer's logo. AvantGo handles the distribution of the client software, which lets users register themselves for the AvantGo customer's service.

Along with a customer's application, AvantGo can bundle in content from AvantGo Mobile Internet, which offers regularly updated information from partners that include The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USAToday.com and The Weather Channel. The company also can insert small banner ads as part of the AvantGo Enterprise Online service if a customer wants it to do so.

AvantGo is first aiming AvantGo Enterprise Online at application service providers and software companies that want to extend their online offerings to non-PC devices. The company also plans to target providers of Web applications in vertical markets, such as legal and real estate.

"We think it's mainly going to be of interest to people who have extranet applications that they want to share with partners and customers," Lundstedt says.

The service is priced to attract companies that want to extend their Web apps to mobile devices, but don't necessarily want to invest in building their own data centers. AvantGo Enterprise Online has "pay-as-you-go" pricing of US$3 to US$5 per user per month, with a one-time setup fee of US$5,000 to US$20,000.

Customers that have lined up for AvantGo Enterprise Online include Liveconsultant.com, which offers customer support services; My Docs Online!, a file storage site; and UpShot.com, a site that provides communications tools for mobile sales professionals.

For UpShot, the hosted AvantGo service offered the right blend of speedy implementation and a technology that provides access in both wireless and disconnected modes, says Julie Choi, UpShot's vice president of product marketing.