HP Promotes Telco-Delivered BYOD App Stores

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has launched a platform designed to allow telcos offer organisations an enterprises app store to allow staff to “bring your own device” (BYOD).

The HP Enterprise Mobility Platform includes an app store which service providers can populate with custom apps designed to use data from corporate back-end systems (such as CRM and ERP) and deliver it to increasingly mobile staff using tablets and smartphones.

BYOD – the telco wins after all?

“This is the consumerisation of the enterprise,” said Tim Marsden, director of applications and cloud at HP (full job title at end of article). “People in business can look at corporate data in a new way.”

Although the consumerisation of the enterprise is a phenomenon being driven by customers, HP chose to partner with telcos for this, because they are “in the middle of the value chain”, Marsden told TechWeekEurope.

Although mobile operators haven’t had specific IT service skills in the past, HP aims to make good this gap, while the service provider capitalises on its ability to deliver services. “The telcos are best placed to exploit the mobility trend,” said Marsden.

The app store is intended for “mobilised” versions of company apps, which can then be downloaded on the corporate network by employees, to Android, iPhone, iPad, RIM or other mobile devices. Instead of a common store for all enterprise partners (like Lenovo’s app store), HP’s idea is to allow service providers to set up custom app stores for each of their customers.

HP also offers a Mobility Gateway, which connects the back-end data with the mobile devices to make the most of bandwidth. The whole thing is based on HP’s existing Service Delivery Platform (SDP).

When questioned about HP’s own mobile device platform WebOS, which was discontinued as a product last year, Marsden said WebOS apps could also be included in the app stores if there was a demand from customers.

Tim Marsden’s full job title is Tim Marsden, Director, Applications and Cloud Enablement, HP Communications & Media Solutions (CMS) Worldwide

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