Partners & Customers

"The proof is in the pudding," says Jim Hemmer, CEO of Antenna Software. When the largest U.S. carrier is signing up to be both your partner and your customer, it's a pretty compelling remark on your offering.

The offering in this case is the Antenna Mobility Platform (AMP), which AT&T is rolling out to its 1,500-strong sales force this summer. The carrier's decision to deploy the solution, says Hemmer, speaks to the quality of the technology and the credibility Antenna has established over the years, working with AT&T to jointly create mobility solutions for customers such as Pitney Bowes, DirecTV and Xerox. "It's the beginning of a major trend," says Hemmer. "Carriers are realizing their point of influence and are making partnerships that are world class."

Antenna's other big news is AMP Studio, a new open-standards development environment for enterprises, independent developers and carriers. "The developer community needs an open platform, and we believe we have not just the first one but the best one," says Hemmer. AT&T will be using AMP Studio to create and deploy a mobile version of its Siebel CRM solution to salesforce reps on BlackBerry, Palm and Pocket PC devices. Antenna and AT&T will also use AMP Studio to design applications that AT&T will sell to its business customers.

"With AMP Studio, we're putting the power of the platform into the martketplace," says Hemmer. "Now anyone can use AMP as their development platform to mobilize their entire business."

To further encourage enterprise CRM adoption, Antenna and AT&T are planning a roadshow. Dates are yet to be announced, but the shows will include seminars on best practices and the types of results that can be expected from AMP applications.
--Michelle Maisto