Giving IT More Wireless Control, Movero Intros New PlatformGiving IT More Wireless Control, Movero Intros New Platform

Trying to solidify its position in the "enterprise wireless management" market, Austin, Texas-based startup Movêro Technology today released its new Web-based software platform, known as Maestro. Designed to bring enterprise CIOs centralized control over the purchase, maintenance, costs, and management of mobile devices, Maestro represents the latest in a growing set of tools for IT professionals seeking better visibility and authority over the range of devices that employees carry.

It also could strike another blow against the hegemony of the Big 4 U.S. wireless carriers, who have tended to treat their business customers as a captive audience.

As enterprises large and small grapple with the challenge of managing often bewildering arrays of mobile devices -- many of them chosen and purchased by employees themselves -- the concept of "managed mobility services" has rapidly taken hold across IT departments. In the past couple of years large players, including systems integrators, carriers, and startups like Movêro, have launched some form of managed mobile service. In partnership with major Euro-carrier Vodafone, Electronic Data Systems launched its mobile management product in November 2003, in an effort that was slightly ahead of its time and has been little heard-of since.

The field of telecom expense management (TEM) also has gotten increasingly crowded as companies try to lower their bills for voice and data services, particularly mobile charges. TEM providers including Control Point Solutions, ProfitLine, and RiverMine are attempting to broaden their offerings to include more consultant-like services. With Maestro, Movêro, according to CEO Bruce Friedman, acts more as a systems integrator, providing a comprehensive suite of services that extend from the purchase of a mobile device to its eventual "responsible disposal" (i.e., destruction rather than a landfill).

"We were offering all these disparate applications including procurement, a help center, integrated bill viewing, use management and policies, and so on," says Friedman. "What we've learned is that customers want one integrated platform. This really streamlines and matures the whole process of deploying mobile devices."

While the official launch of the new platform is today, current Movêro customers have been using it since July 20. The new release, says Friedman, entailed an entire rewrite of Movêro's code base.

Founded in Austin in 2003, Movêro offers its services as a brandable product via service providers, system integrators, and the like, as well as the standalone Maestro service. Movêro had around $12 million in revenue in 2006 and expects that to climb sharply this year, Friedman says. With a Series A round of funding that closed in April, the company is still in startup mode, with about 30 corporate accounts and around 50,000 individual users. Friedman expects to top the 100,000-user mark by the end of this year or the beginning of next. The company says it is adding 2,500 seats per week.

Last month Microsoft selected Movêro as the "preferred technical support vendor" for trials and pilot deployments of the latest version of its mobile operating system, Windows Mobile 6.0.

Using a managed mobility service like Movêro essentially gives IT departments a buffer between themselves and the carriers, allowing routine tasks such as device upgrades, shopping for the best voice and data plans, lost-device replacement, and transferring phones from one employee to another to be handled online directly via Maestro.

"We enable companies to proactively manage their mobility," explains Friedman. IT professionals are "more and more viewing the service they get from the carriers as a utility, and they've started looking for general contractors who can put together a customized package of services."