September 25, 2000

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ASPs Can Free IT Managers From Tangle Of Wireless Data

By Cassimir Medford

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Is wireless the future of data communications? Given the choice, do users prefer mobility and portability to the familiarity, stability, and rich experience of the wired world? A report from Cahner's In-Stat Group issued in mid-September says the wireless-data market will grow from about 170 million subscribers worldwide this year to more than 1.3 billion in 2004. The demand will come from businesses of every size, the report says.

But wireless data is not a coherent discipline. There is no generally accepted standard for how to transport HTML and other types of data sans wires. The wireless-user base is splitting into communities centered on phones, laptops, and personal digital assistants, and all of those approaches bring different advantages and disadvantages to the table.

So, what options do IT managers have? They can sort things out themselves, or they can turn to a new breed of service company that has emerged to assist IT managers with wireless complexity. They are wireless application service providers, and Aether Systems Inc. is emerging as one of the leaders.

"I don't think many companies will implement wireless data without some outside help. The help will be available from companies like Aether," says Adam Zawel, a senior analyst at the Yankee Group. "If you go to a carrier, you are committing to that network and that device, which you may not be willing to do."

Aether has built an operations center and a suite of software products that mask the complexity of disparate standards and offer at least the hope of interoperability. The company has relationships with service providers such as Metricom, Nextel, and Novatel Wireless, and with developers, systems integrators, consultants, and original equipment manufacturers. It has attracted an impressive list of customers, among them Charles Schwab & Co. and Office Depot Inc.

"We've built a whole suite of technologies that allow for relatively seamless plug-in to all those networks [such as Metricom's and Nextel's] and devices [such as PDAs and cell phones] so we give the IT manager one pipe into Aether and we will manage it all for you," says George Davis, Aether's president and vice chairman. "We have all the relationships with the carriers. We resell the airtime. We package it all up, and take care of the upgrades."

Aether has been on the acquisition trail. In August, it bought Cerulean Technology Inc., a wireless ASP with a customer base of government agencies.

"The people selling wireless are now the systems integrators, such as Aether Systems and OmniSky," says David Chamberlain, a senior analyst with Probe Research. "Those are the companies making the sales. They give IT managers an opportunity to focus on the big picture--the business goals. IT organizations can continue to take advantage of this new paradigm of information access without getting tied up in what it takes to manage and support it."

Return to main story, "Wireless Apps: Problems And Opportunities ."

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