DecisionPoint is in the Mobile Apps Sweet Spot

DecisionPoint is in the Mobile Apps Sweet Spot

By Ken Nagy, CFA

In January 2013, DecisionPoint Systems, Inc. (OTC BB: ( DPSI ) ), the enterprise mobility and RFID systems integrator, announced that it launched a new sales and marketing initiative and dedicated a team to accelerate the Company's expansion into enterprise mobile software, software subscriptions and professional services.

The newly created Enterprise Solutions Group will lead the new effort by expanding the sales and marketing of APEXWare™ software throughout the United States.

Recently DecisionPoint made three acquisitions (CMAC, Apex and Illume Mobile) which have broadened the Company’s software products and professional services capabilities, opened new markets and deepened relationships with customers by allowing the Company to offer the full range of mobile solutions to meet the requirements of any enterprise mobility strategy as well as generate higher margins than other divisions in the Company, which in turn should lead to improved corporate gross margins.

DecisionPoint acquired the Burlington, Ontario, Canada based supplier of wireless mobile work force solutions, Apex Systems Integrators Inc., in June 2012.

The Company's APEXWare™ suite of products provides mobile productivity solutions in the areas of merchandizing, sales and delivery, field service, logistics and transportation, and warehouse management that serve multiple vertical industries in the mid-market.

With premium mobile data applications estimated to have generated carrier revenues of over $2.3 billion in 2008 and expected to grow at a CAGR of 35 percent or to as much as $10.3 billion in 2013, Apex’s presence in this important growing market will help DecisionPoint grow its revenues and margins and to drive increasing shareholder value.

Market research firm Gartner in a press release found here. (http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2324917) predicts more than 50% of mobile Apps deployed by 2016 will be hybrid.

With enterprises under extreme pressure from management and employees to develop and deploy mobile applications to accommodate mobile work styles and increase customer engagement, Gartner, Inc. predicts that more than 50 percent of mobile apps deployed by 2016 will be hybrid.

"Mobility has always been a separate topic for IT professionals, but it is now influencing mainstream strategies and tactics in the wider areas of technology enablement and enterprise architectures," said Ken Dulaney, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "Increasingly, enterprises are finding that they need to support multiple platforms, especially as the [bring your own device] BYOD trend gains momentum."

To address the need for mobile applications, enterprises are looking to leverage applications across multiple platforms. The advantages of the hybrid architecture, which combines the portability of HTML5 Web apps with a native container that facilitates access to native device features, will appeal to many enterprises.

The need for context awareness in mobile applications has increased with the capabilities of mobile devices, causing developers to consider both hybrid and native architectures. For applications to leverage location information, notification systems, mapping capabilities and even on-device hardware such as the camera, the applications need to be developed using either hybrid or native architectures. This has caused enterprise developers to consider alternatives to Web application development.

"Our advice would be to assume the enterprise will have to manage a large and diverse set of mobile applications that will span all major architectures," said Van Baker, research vice president at Gartner. "Enterprises should consider how applications can be enriched or improved by the addition of native device capabilities and evaluate development frameworks that offer the ability to develop native, hybrid and Web applications using the same code base. Where possible, development activities should be consolidated via cross-platform frameworks."

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