The451 Report --



Title: Mobile development startup Open Terra emerges from the shadows of product development
Date: October 30, 2003
Report Type: Impact Report
Author: Tony Rizzo

Open Terra is a seven-person startup that has been quietly working on a mobile middleware and application development platform over the past several years. Now it has delivered the mSolve mobile development platform, which has the requisite functionality for building mobile applications: database back-end connectivity; resident client-side application support, as well as WAP support; and a rapid development, drag-and-drop application design studio. MSolve is entirely J2EE- and J2ME-based.

On the face of it, there's remarkable similarity to a host of other mobile middleware and application products, but Open Terra brings a few new ideas to the mix, such as basing user fees on bandwidth utilization. The small team that makes up the company brings extensive supply chain management experience. MSolve was built with a focus on delivering mobile applications in this space, although the platform is adaptable to any business need.

Impact Assesment

The message

Open Terra is delivering its new mSolve mobile application development platform. MSolve provides substantial back-end database connectivity, a drag-and-drop development environment and client-side application support with WAP-based fallback as an option.

Competitive landscape

Is there a mobile middleware company that doesn't compete with Open Terra? No, they all do, including Shipcom and Countermind – both of which also focus on drag-and-drop development – as well as Aligo, Orsus, JP Mobile, among others.

The451 assessment

We especially like that the product was built with an understanding of supply chain management first, and as a more general platform second. But technology only gets a company so far. Given the substantial supply chain roots its founders bring, however, it should be able to unlock some business fairly quickly. Also, the technology's Java heritage makes it a potentially great fit with Nokia's new mobile enterprise suite of initiatives. The missing piece of Nokia's enterprise platform is a true hardcore middleware platform that can deliver fat-client applications. The two companies should definitely be talking to each other.

Context Open Terra's founders began work on the technology approximately two years ago; it was officially founded early in 2002. The company employs seven people, all programmers/engineers, although CEO David Sasson is now focusing on the business side of life – more-or-less a business team of one. To date, the company has been entirely self-funded, having privately raised $1.5m over its lifespan to date.

The company received some exposure at this year's MobileDemo conference, but the product suite will not be officially released until the first quarter of 2004. Three beta customers, as yet unannounced, are currently in hand: a building management firm, a health insurance brokerage and a Web hosting/ISP company. Open Terra says a large transportation company based in Germany is currently evaluating the mSolve platform, with interest driven primarily by the available Web services-based connectivity.

The bottom line, however, is that paying customers are not in the bank yet and landing a few will be critical. The company is actively interested in funding opportunities – turning pilots and evaluations into revenue will help make the funding case.

Technology Unfortunately, we can only briefly touch on Open Terra's technology here – there is a great deal that makes the product compelling. The mSolve platform is written entirely in Java and provides integrated messaging and alerts environments that support MQ-based systems; extensive back-end database connectivity; a J2ME-based client agent (currently supporting MIDP 1.x, with MIDP 2.0 support slated for delivery early in 2004); support for Symbian, Palm OS v5.x and Windows Mobile for PocketPCs; WAP support; WIN32-based laptop and tablet support; SSL encryption; a GUI-based design studio; and a business process engine. Wireless support includes GSM/GPRS, CDMA PCS and Wi-Fi, but also extends to older iDEN, TDMA and Mobitex networks, allowing a rich set of wireless options to be employed.

The list of supported features is long. Perhaps more important to the back-office applications that the company wants to mobile-enable, is the accompanying long list of databases that are natively supported. These include PostgreSQL, SQL Server, DB2, MySQL, Sybase, Oracle, Informix and any other JDBC-compliant database – a substantial list. Open Terra says providing these database connectors up front was critical, but believes that connecting to Siebel, PeopleSoft, etc. should be done through Web services. In line with this, it provides full Web services connectivity, joining both Shipcom and Adesso on this front.

MSolve's GUI-based design studio and its business rules engine combine to allow a mobile application to be quickly modeled, tested and deployed. Of course, most of the competition has latched on to the inevitable and at this point a drag-and-drop application design component is de rigueur. The Open Terra design studio provides a write-once, deploy-to-any-device functionality, and integrates the underlying business logic with available screen form factors. A control panel module provides, among other things, a variety of admin tasks, the ability to deliver various alerts and a variety of performance metrics and reports.

Open Terra says it is planning to offer a hosted operation in addition to direct enterprise deployment. No pricing has been set for any options. The company is exploring a variety of pricing models – it did mention a rather strange idea to base hosting side fees on bandwidth usage. We're not sure this will catch on, although it's a novel way to think about billing for mobile applications.

Strategy The weak link for the company at this point is the dearth of business-side support. It may have difficulty landing additional private funding. Whether an angel investor or a larger VC player steps up to the plate, allowing it to sell the technology it's developed, may be the difference between survival and growth or finding another exit strategy.

Interestingly, it's very clear to us that the technology would make an excellent marriage with Nokia and its new enterprise solutions group. That the platform is built on Java and already Symbian friendly is noteworthy. Nokia's efforts to date have not included a bona fide mobile middleware platform. It's a glaringly missing piece for delivering compelling mobile enterprise applications on – for example, its potential PDA-killer 6600 series phone. We'd like to see Nokia and Open Terra talk to each other. The technology is clearly complementary to what Nokia gained through its Eizel acquisition and to its just-released and browser-based Access Mobilizer product.

A partnership with Nokia would quickly open a lot of enterprise doors for Open Terra. It's a direction we would encourage both companies to explore.

Competition The closest direct competition, on paper, may come from Shipcom and Countermind. These two companies offer rapid design environments, though given Open Terra's Java-based technology and Countermind's Windows-based approach, there may be little overlap because the underlying programming platform often dictates where a company will be able to play. Shipcom's direct focus on and historical involvement in the same supply chain-focused niches that Open Terra is after may lead to eventual competition.

With the need for partners front and center stage at Open Terra, the real competition may come not in actual deployments but in fighting over what will be the platform of choice for potential partners. Judicious selection of partner targets may remove competitive threats altogether. The real challenge comes in getting a foot in potential partner doors and being able to land some funding.

SWOT analysis

Strength	Weakness
The mSolve platform looks extremely well designed. Its wealth of back-end connectors to an extensive array of databases is particularly important in the often-antiquated world of supply chain management. Delivering a Web services interface to go with these connectors offers the best of old and new and provides solid flexibility.	The company is a startup in a world full of startups and more-established players. A number of competitors are looking for infusions of cash to drive the business side – essentially what Open Terra needs to do. It's probably the smallest among its peers, and with no real customers yet may find attracting attention difficult.
Opportunities	Threats
Its founding members will need to cash in all the chips gained from their supply chain roots – and get a number of customers into pilots and real deployments. We see some word of mouth possibilities here, and Open Terra's early deals will probably evolve in this fashion.	The company needs to gain sales traction before the money runs out. The biggest threat is not being able to execute the business side, for which revenue is the only measure of results that counts.