GoAmerica Communications Corp. last week shifted its marketing focus from the consumer and individual user market to the corporate enterprise market by inking deals with EDS, an international information technology services firm with more than 9,000 corporate clients, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Oracle Inc.
“The consumer and individual market will be de-emphasized from a marketing perspective,” said Joe Korb, GoAmerica executive vice president. “We don’t feel the consumer wireless data market is really here.”
The EDS strategic relationship aims to build next-generation solutions that combine GoAmerica’s Go.Web service with EDS’ e-business infrastructure, mobile commerce applications and integration technology. The goal is to provide wireless access to e-mail and the Internet, as well as data management analysis and communications tools for the corporate mobile work force.
GoAmerica’s Go.Web service is a client-server Internet compression technology that allows users to access virtually any Web site from their wireless devices, which GoAmerica optimizes for transmission. It requires the Go.Web technology loaded onto the handset. The server end is hosted at GoAmerica’s Wireless Internet Connectivity center, which also acts as a window into corporate environments.
Go.Web also is a wireless Internet portal, consisting of several information and content channels GoAmerica has formed partnerships with, making it easier for users to get the information they need. However, users are not limited to these channels. They are free to enter any URL they like.
GoAmerica traditionally has worked with wireless carriers and service providers to capture interested consumer users. The EDS deal marks the strongest move yet to establish a presence for GoAmerica in the corporate enterprise market. EDS, meanwhile, gains a path to extend its wireless expertise.
“This is really the beginning of what we think will be a really big story for both us and for the industry,” Korb said.
“We really feel Corporate America is paying attention to wireless data.”
The letter of intent is subject to several conditions, but a definitive agreement is expected by late summer.
On the same enterprise-extension front, GoAmerica and Oracle have agreed to combine the Go.Web technology with Oracle’s Portal-To-Go wireless portal software. Oracle will continue selling the combined product through its distribution channels, while GoAmerica will offer Portal-To-Go services as a service bureau, adding development and secure hosting services in addition to its browser interface wireless Internet service.
Oracle’s software translates existing database and Internet applications for wireless devices, without the need for those applications to be rewritten. The company said the combination will allow corporations to access enterprise data through the Go.Web service, enhanced by the Portal-to-Go server.
Growing in popularity as the mobile device of choice for corporate mobile workers are handheld personal computers, also called notebooks or personal digital assistants. The company has existing relationships with Palm Inc. for its popular line of Palm devices but added HP to the mix as well.
HP agreed to incorporate the Go.Web technology into its full line of OmniBook and Pavilion notebook devices, as well as selected Jordanas, making GoAmerica the wireless Internet service provider for HP notebook PCs. The bundled service plan includes unlimited airtime and a PC card for wireless connectivity.
GoAmerica went public April 7 at $16 a share. Its stock struggled in the months immediately afterward but has enjoyed a rally of late. The announcements Tuesday sparked a jump in the company’s shares from $14.75 to $16.06. But this proved short lived, as prices fell to $13 the next day.
