Acquisition expands company’s developer tools to make applications
available on diverse operating systems and in more service provider
stores.
Alcatel-Lucent today announced that it has acquired OpenPlug, a mobile
software and applications development tools vendor. Through this
acquisition, Alcatel-Lucent deepens its role in the applications space
by delivering, as part of its integrated suite of developer tools, a
platform where application developers can write an application once,
which will then be translated to run on any of the five major mobile
operating systems. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Alcatel-Lucent can now extend OpenPlug’s functionality to service
providers, enterprises and developers so they can create and deploy
applications — in virtually record time and without sacrificing the
unique customer experience — across multiple mobile devices and within
service provider app stores. As a result, applications that had
previously only been available on more sophisticated devices such as
smartphones, can now be enjoyed by consumers on any mobile device, which
opens up opportunities in emerging markets, where low cost mobile phone
circulation is highest.
This is the second acquisition Alcatel-Lucent has made over the past
three months to expand and enhance the application ecosystem. In June,
the company acquired ProgrammableWeb, the technology industry’s go-to
source of API-related content.
"While demand for mobile apps is peaking, so is the fragmentation of
mobile development platforms and tools,” said Michael Cote, analyst for
Redmonk. “This makes it very expensive to target all devices and can
lead to putting all your eggs in one, often tightly controlled basket,
like Apple’s, or doing a least-common denominator, mobile web app that
can’t benefit from full native device access. A tool that can target all
platforms is hugely needed in this space, and OpenPlug should work well
with the total mobile app development portfolio Alcatel-Lucent is
putting together."
Thanks to OpenPlug, service providers, enterprises and developers do not
have to be selective about which of the many mobile platforms they will
write applications for, thus limiting their potential for service
adoption and revenue potential. OpenPlug’s mobile software turns every
device into a smart device. It allows developers to write applications
once and convert application code into native software that runs on any
leading mobile device operating system, including iPhone, Android,
Symbian, Windows Mobile, and Linux.
“Being able to provide more applications across multiple devices helps
service providers significantly broaden their app store content to
create more value for consumers,” said Laura Merling, vice president of
Alcatel-Lucent’s global developer strategy. “As service providers
typically offer multiple mobile devices to their subscriber base, the
OpenPlug software can help them get to market five times faster by
allowing them to easily port an application to all of their devices. And
this isn’t purely a mobile play — the software can be extended to
support application development for IPTV set top boxes, game consoles,
even the ng Connect LTE Connected Car.”
“Deploying valuable web and mobile services requires assembling many
different pieces from many horizons,” said Eric Baissus, CEO of
OpenPlug. “By combining OpenPlug’s ELIPS Suite and ELIPS Studio
technologies with Alcatel-Lucent’s platforms and API services, we enable
developers and service providers to gather all these pieces in a very
efficient and consistent way. This will dramatically facilitate the
deployment and the monetization of the new generation of applications
that the market is expecting.”
The OpenPlug toolset will be incorporated into Alcatel-Lucent’s
Developer Platform and Open API Service, thus broadening the
functionality available to service providers, enterprises and developers
for the exposure of network assets and the rapid introduction of new
services across mobile and Web domains.
The move advances Alcatel-Lucent’s Application Enablement strategy,
which is focused on combining the trusted and secure network
capabilities of service providers with the speed and innovation of the
Web to provide a richer end-user experience.
