As part of our enterprise software predictions for 2012 (see here) we highlighted mobile as a key area of activity, and specifically movement around the Mobile Enterprise Application Platform area. It has not taken long for the first piece of action – IBM’s plan to acquire privately-held mobile Worklight, a provider of mobile development tools. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Mobile applications developed using Worklight tools can be developed once and run across multiple mobile platforms, which is a key requirement in today’s mobile environment. Worklight customers include Best Western, FIS Software and AT&T, who use the tools to create mobile applications for employees and customers.
Worklight only enables mobile application development so IBM has also announced Endpoint Manager for Mobile Devices, which provides the ability to secure and manage employee’s mobile devices. The new software tool is based on technology gained through IBM’s BigFix acquisition in 2012. Application development and device management are twin requirements where mobile devices are concerned and MEAP’s such as Rhomobile, Syclo, Antenna, Pyxis and SAP’s Sybase, combine the two. Currently IBM’s solution is/will be based on separate tools, which may not be ideal. We’ll have to wait for the deal to close to find out how IBM will pull them together.
The acquisition will add to the tools part of IBM’s software portfolio. Recently the company has concentrated on making purchases in the high growth areas of analytics and cloud applications. Mobile is a different area but shares the high growth potential.