PowWow Streamlines Enterprise Apps for the iPhone

Datamation content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

PowWow, a San Francisco, Calif.-based software startup, today announced that the company’s self-named mobile application delivery platform is available on the iPhone, following a version for tablets like the iPad.

Despite the explosive growth of the mobile software market, not every business desktop or Web application has made the transition to the iPhone. And it may be years before such software is ported to iOS, if ever.

PowWow’s technology, dubbed a “real-time transformation engine,” offers on-the-go access to select functionality or a subset of a business application’s capabilities, instead of the whole application. As the company explains, organizations can give their mobile users “a customer loyalty purchase entry feature as part of a larger enterprise-wide CRM application, or stock trading features as part of a larger trading system.”

What results is a mobile-optimized experience that adheres to the iPhone’s user interface, complete with touch enabled perks like custom gestures and virtual keyboards. According to Andrew Cohen, PowWow’s co-founder and CEO, organizations can deliver those targeted app experiences quickly. The company’s tech “puts a company’s Windows and Web applications on mobile devices in minutes, and those apps feel native, as if they were written for that device,” he said Cohen.

PowWow is already catching on, added Cohen. He reported that PowWow, which is in “extensive trials,” has already racked up orders from Fortune 500 customers.

The firm’s cloud-based alternative to custom mobile apps and virtual desktop infrastructures (VDI) requires “a one-time upgrade process for IT,” according the company. Base workspaces can generally be configured within a day and specific applications within an hour, without coding and little IT overhead.

In terms of security, data sent over PowWow is never stored on a device, eliminating the risk that sensitive information can be plucked from a lost or stolen iPhone. Data shared between devices and corporate networks are secured via SSL.

Finally, PowWow offers a smattering of collaboration features. Features include file and application sharing between users and non-users. Browser-based links enabled non-PowWow colleagues to access applications and files via their PC or mobile browsers.

PowWow for the iPhone is expected to ship in the fall of 2014. Currently, PowWow (non-iPhone) is available for $25 per month per user.

Pedro Hernandez is a contributing editor at Datamation. Follow him on Twitter @ecoINSITE.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.