GlobalNet CyberworX Canada has tapped Mountain View, Calif.'s Orsus Solutions to help it become a hosted application service provider for the wireless commerce market.
The Toronto-based company, a subsidiary of GlobalNet Technologies in McLean, Va., will market Orsus's iGlue/Wireless product to companies planning on enabling their remote employees to conduct real-time transactions.
For example, a delivery person dropping off a company's product to a customer can automatically deduct the purchase from the company's warehouse inventory, via a wireless device of some type, explained Murray Thomson, general manager of GlobalNet CyberworX Canada. He said the company's Web site can also send information back to the employee's wireless device about upcoming deliveries.
Dubbed MASS, which stands for Mobile Application Solutions and Services, GlobalNet and Orsus plan to promote their product primarily to the business market. Thomson said the company sees significant opportunity in the insurance industry, where claims officers often have to update client information while on the road.
"That sounds like a sensible approach," suggested Andrew Bartles, vice-president of eCommerce for Giga Information Group in Norwalk, Conn. "The near-term opportunities are undoubtedly greater in the B2B space. Think about the opportunities for sales people or service people to access information they need for sales calls or service calls."
While many companies have virtual private networks (VPNs) that allow their remote employees to directly access their company's LAN, GlobalNet said its MASS product performs its functions as a portal, or gateway, between the wireless device and the company's public or private Web site. The portal acts as a translator which enables any WAP (wireless application protocol)-enabled phone to access all existing Web sites of systems.
Thomson said the result is that companies are able to process real-time wireless transactions into their existing information technology systems, with little re-engineering of back end systems.
"Anything that can allow (companies) to create the same content and simply filter it out for the wireless channel, given the constraints of cell phone screens and touchpads, could be attractive for companies," said Bartles.
Bartles also did not believe the security of the transactions would be in question, as digital phones today already support encryption.
According to GlobalNet's Thomson, MASS customers will be charged a one-time development fee, "because you have to build the scripts that integrate the existing systems and the Web site." After that, GlobalNet, as an ASP, will collect monthly charges for hosting and maintenance of the application.
GlobalNet CyberworX Canada can be found on the Web through its parent company at www.globalnetinc.com. Orsus Solutions is at www.orsus.com.