New platform offers easy route to mobile apps

DA Systems has unveiled a managed service for mobile applications offering businesses the ability to mobilise business processes on handheld devices within a short time and at a relatively modest cost.

NX Framework, available immediately, enables DA Systems to build an application to a customer's exact requirements, according to the firm.

"We have a background in logistics, and one of the things we've found is that everyone is unique. No mobile applications out there are able to meet every requirement," said DA Systems managing director Dave Upton.

Using the NX Framework, DA Systems can build a bespoke application for devices running Microsoft platforms such as Windows Mobile.

This links to a back-end application hosted in the company's own data centre, which in turn hooks into the customer's own database back-end systems via the internet. The technology is network-agnostic.

Target industries include delivery and logistics companies and field service engineers, but the platform is flexible enough to drive almost any application, according to Upton.

"We can update the platform to support new device hardware as necessary. We already support Wi-Fi, 3G and GPS," he said.

Because the NX Framework has been designed to provide the necessary functionality needed in most applications already, code can be developed much faster than the 18 to 24 months often needed to build a complete turnkey solution from scratch, according to Upton.

"We can turn out simple applications in a couple of weeks," he said.

Each customer application is unique, so there is no typical cost for a project. DA Systems charges an upfront amount for developing the application, plus an ongoing monthly licence fee.

Development costs will vary with complexity, but Upton said that ongoing fees could be as low as £30 per user per month for a firm with 100 mobile users.

DA Systems said it has been trialling the NX Framework with a customer that Upton described as "a very large UK logistics operator".

See also:

SAP builds on mobile strategy

Partnership with RIM is 'just the beginning'  03 Oct 2008

Mobiles get enterprise-grade remote control

VNC to let users control desktops from mobiles and vice versa  02 Oct 2008

Nokia abandons business mobility

Phone giant to focus on consumer messaging instead  30 Sep 2008

Mobile apps made easy

UK-based Aeromark aims to make mobility simpler and more affordable by offering applications as a managed service  16 Jun 2008

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