New Features in the iPhone Configuration Utility Version 3.0

The IPCU 3.0 was release July 14, 2010, and it's got some great new features. We've added a "Tech Note" highlighting the changes in between Apple iPhone Configuration Utility 3.0 (IPCU 3.0) and the previous version., since this information is a bit hard to track down. (Apple has not yet released a new version of the Enterprise Deployment Guide). To see our note, visit http://www.apperian.com/technotes/Iphone%20_Configuration_Utility_3_Tech_Note.html

Inside Looking Out: An Executive View on Enterprise Mobility

Chuck Goldman shares his passion for mobility with Philippe Winthrop on the untapped potential of our lives that exists in handheld devices.

Read Philippe's interview with Chuck Goldman of Apperian in Inside Looking Out: An Executive View on Enterprise Mobility With Chuck Goldman.

If you have not checked out the Enterprise Mobility Foundation website -- it's a great place to get the latest news and information on enterprise mobility. The EMF website was launched back in April 2010, and has become the "must read" for those involved in enterprise mobility. Highly recommended!

Apperian Heads to WWDC 2010!

Apperian is packing up the pickup truck and heading out to WWDC 2010 in San Francisco. (OK, well actually we're flying.) We're totally stoked about this event, especially with the focus on the iPad and the OS 4.0 release.

If you haven't heard from us already, Apperian is hosting the Second Annual invitation-only "Thirsty Bear" Party -- contact us to get more details.

We're also briefing our partners on the upcoming release of EASE (Enterprise App Services Environment), and would be glad to talk with you at the conference about becoming a beta customer. See you all in San Francisco!

Rue La La Launches on iPhone and iPad

Apperian is very excited to have launched the Rue La La App

Rue La La is great example of Apperian's extensible mobile commerce platform, which allows us to develop virtually any type of m-commerce application.

Plus, we built the app to work on both the iPhone and iPad, but the app is fully "optimized" to take advantage of the iPad features. We believe that our approach transforms the mobile shopping experience with because it's fast, easy to use, and "makes sense" to users who expect a real-time exprience on their mobile device that is better than the web.

We have enjoyed working the Rue La La on this project. The company entered mobile commerce in 2009 with the introduction of a mobile portal.

Apperian wanted to create a the premier solution for Rue La La members to shop using iPhone or iPad by leveraging Rue La La's 48-hour boutiques that create urgency and excitement among members. The urgency that accompanies the opening of each boutique is a "mobile device fit" and provides increased opportunity to shop and pass along membership from anywhere.

In addition, we incorporated "bump" technology into the iPhone app to let members quickly share the app and membership with friends by "bumping" their phones together. The information passed between phones is encrypted and leverages the same security employed in online banking.

Welcome Aboard, Rob!

I am thrilled to announce that Rob Friedman has joined Apperian as Director of Engineering. Rob will focus primarily on our new enterprise platform and will work with our growing services team.

Rob has worked in the software industry for 25 years. His mobile experience dates back to 1999, when he built an enterprise mobile email product. He led engineering teams in mobile SaaS companies such as Vlingo and Groove Mobile. At Vlingo Rob successfully delivered mobile client applications for several mobile phone manufacturers, including preinstallation on new phones from Nokia and Samsung. These projects expanded Vlingo's reach to millions of new users.

His technical chops span the range of mobile Apps - Blackberry, iPhone, Symbian / S60, Windows Mobile, JavaME, C#, C, C++, Java, Linux.

Rob is a passionate technologist, enterprise mobile product pioneer, and entrepreneur who strives for excellence in the projects that he works on. Rob brings that passion, energy and experience to Apperian and will certainly play a key role in our quest to become the leader in the creation, deployment and management of mobile Apps in the Enterprise.

-- Chuck Goldman

Apperian Expands

Today is a great day for two great companies. Apperian and DS Media Labs is now one big family of creative, engineering, sales and marketing talent.

The DS Media Labs team is a bunch of wildly talented guys that I met early last year right after I left Apple to start Apperian. They have been working with the iPhone SDK since day one (actually, they've been playing with the iPhone since before day one!). They bring fantastic engineering chops in mobile that is unmatched. Ben and his team have done work ranging from advanced 3D OpenGL to deep integration into enterprise legacy data.

Like the Apperian team, they are passionate about user experience and it drives everything that they think about. While organic growth was always our plan both companies realized that the window of opportunity is closing quickly and this is one of those true opportunities where 1+1=3.

We made a strategic decision to accelerate our product development efforts both on the iPhone and other mobile platforms. I know that DS Media Labs has the right experience and the team to execute on this critical part of our mission. Working with passionate people and innovative customers are what motivates our team here at Apperian.

We had an awesome team meeting last week with everyone in Boston, and the energy and excitement that flowed from that meeting is still with me. I think I can speak for the entire team when I say that this combined group is looking forward to making great things happen in the mobile world!

Which Wins in the Enterprise?

Which one wins Enterprise: BlackBerry or iPhone?

Chuck Goldman, CEO Apperian

Apperian is a mobile application development company with a team from Apple, Motorola, and General Dynamics whose resources and talent are unmatched.

Fueled by consumer-sales success, the iPhone has invaded the Enterprise. There is no going back.

According to recent surveys, when companies offer employees a choice between iPhone and other smartphones, users take iPhones. Although historically, Blackberry has been considered the backbone of Enterprise mobile deployments, the single-vendor model is eroding.

Corporate users now demand IT support their iPhones, in-house developers have witnessed the power of the iPhone App model, and numerous visionary companies have already built and launched "Custom Enterprise Apps" to meet their business goals.

Within two years, iPhone will be the Enterprise smartphone market-share leader or, at minimum, a peer device. It will have earned a top leadership position in specific industries-retail and medical specifically-where organizations have the vision to leverage the "app model" for competitive advantage. Some analysts see a three-way game emerging between Blackberry, iPhone and all other devices.

Of course, carrier coverage, device capabilities, and IT support (as it relates to security and management) are all critical to success. Ultimately, though, the winners will be decided by users, not IT managers-assuming blocking issues (such as network coverage) are not a factor.

Let's look at recent history to understand why iPhone will emerge as a clear winner. Since its launch in June of 2007, the iPhone has exploded in popularity, with over 35 million units sold to date. Users love their iPhones. Naturally, most of these users work in companies, both large and small.

While it's true large Enterprises have taken their time adopting the iPhone, Apple has quietly added support for Exchange Mail, and beefed-up encryption, VPN support, and basic management capabilities such as password enforcement and remote-wipe to make IT folks (somewhat) happier about supporting the device.

Key reasons why the iPhone will win:

* Employees demand a great user experience and their employers will respond to support the iPhone. The engagement users have with their iPhone is similar to the Crackberry phenomenon years earlier, but the personal productivity in home and work life has increased measurably, and no one wants to carry two devices. Enterprises are responding by supporting the iPhone and re-thinking their mobile strategies based on the bottom up pressure.

* Smart businesses are seeing increased ROI and reduced TCO from iPhones. Rather than just being a managed expense, the iPhone enables critical business goals such as collaboration, sharing, and the ability to build custom apps and gain competitive advantage relatively quickly and easily. Yes, the Blackberry has apps. But historically these have been focused on logistics and operations and have been costly to develop and maintain. The iPhone makes it possible for virtually all business functions, including sales, marketing, and HR, to develop truly innovative solutions. Plus, B-to-C apps can provide new models for sales, support, and service. Finally, the cost of ownership for iPhones is proving to be lower than Blackberries as companies avoid the "Blackberry Tax" imposed by BES. What's more, users are more self-sufficient, lowering support costs.

* Apple is investing in Enterprise support for the iPhone - and IT is beginning to believe. When iPhone first launched, Apple clearly focused on the consumer market more than the Enterprise. IT departments were justifiably skeptical about the cool iPhones executives were showing-off around the office. However, Apple is focusing on the Enterprise both from the engineering side - with new releases - and the sales side by enhancing the team with Enterprise mobile veterans. Much needs to be done, including continued improvement on device management, application deployment, and security. But Apple appears to be on-track to provide this support. There is still cynicism about Apple from hard-bitten IT managers, but Apple appears to be handling these concerns while maintaining the ease of use held so dearly by users.

The iPhone is already on a great trajectory within the Enterprise. What's really interesting and exciting is the iPhone's stealth entry occurred organically, without a strong marketing or sales focus (at least compared to the consumer side).

At all levels of the organization-from the CEO to the salesperson-demand has been driven solely by users. Just imagine what can happen when Apple puts its back to the wheel and starts to push the Enterprise market - especially as it considers leveraging iPhone acceptance as a way to engage IT about getting more Macs into the Enterprise beyond the traditional marketing areas.

In fact, the iPhone has created a halo effect that is causing companies to rethink their platform altogether. Look around. You will undoubtedly see more and more MacBook Pro laptops.

If Apple can continue to amaze users with its technology provide a great user-experience, and simultaneously provide IT with enough to keep things under control, the iPhone will win. Because, as I said, the disruption in the market has been driven by users, who are going to use their iPhone whether IT says it's OK - or not. As long as users continue to drive mobile adoption in the Enterprise, it's Apple's game.

XMas Comes Early

Walk into any Apple Store (or any iPhone store for that matter) and you'll see our American Greetings eCards App installed on every iPhone.

Executive Mobility Webinar

On August 25th, Enterprise Mobile, an outsource mobility service provider and Apperian, an iPhone business application development firm, produced this one hour webinar to demonstrate how enterprises can mobilize their workforce using Apple's iPhone 3GS.



During this 1-hour session, you'll learn:
- How to increase productivity with the Apple iPhone mobile platform by mobilizing enterprise class line of business applications.

- How to address the challenges of deploying and managing an iPhone Enterprise deployment.

Good News

Canalys: iPhone outsold all Windows Mobile phones in Q2 2009

"Apple has revolutionized the smart phone sector, leapfrogging more experienced rivals," Canalys senior analyst Pete Cunningham said in the company's report...



Read more »

Tranformative Mobility Defined

Welcome to Apperian. Today marks the official launch of our website and our company. I am thrilled about Apperian, the immense mobile transformation potential ahead of us, and Apperian's unique position in the new mobile ecosystem.

With the introduction of the first truly "in-your-pocket" computing platform, the Apple iPhone, enterprise mobility is finally possible. The iPhone's capabilities are so powerful and unique that the device is already gaining traction within the enterprise and will eventually displace old mobile platforms entirely.

Coupled with the App Store - making software distribution a snap - the iPhone is the new frontier for companies to establish a mobile presence and build competitive advantage.

I left Apple in late 2008 to help established brands and innovative companies harness this new technology to deliver transformative point-of-service mobile applications that build stronger connections with both consumers and employees.

The focus of the Apperian team is to help our clients realize their competitive advantage by leveraging advanced mobile technologies such as m-commerce, location-based services, and social networks to truly transform the way they do business.

Join us in embracing this transformation today.

Chuck Goldman
Apperian CEO & Co-Founder

Topping the Charts

We are proud to announce that Apperian has made AlwaysOn's East 100 Top Companies for '09 list. "These 100 companies have emerged at time when technology and innovation are proving vital to bring our country out of economic recession. As the the international marketplace lifts itself out of the mire, investors are turning to technology to find hidden revenue streams, make business more efficient, and expand into global markets."