With 86% of surveyed developers planning their first IoT projects within the next three years, Embarcadero lays out strategy to address the convergence of connected apps
SAN FRANCISCO – September 8, 2014 – Embarcadero Technologies, a leading provider of software solutions for application and database development, today unveils its technology strategy for developers to build a new breed of connected apps for the burgeoning Internet of Things (IoT) market.
According to Gartner Inc., IoT will grow to 26 billion units installed in 2020 (in addition to 7.3 billion PCs, tablets and smartphones), representing an almost 30-fold increase from 0.9 billion in 2009*. The results of a new Embarcadero developer survey echoes this growth trend, with 31% of respondents already engaged in IoT projects. Of those not yet developing for IoT, 86% have plans to begin their first connected app projects starting within the next three years.
"The device landscape has exploded beyond PCs, tablets and smartphones. Now, wearables, sensors, home automation, and connected cars present a completely new app ecosystem. Apps no longer live on a single device and instead are interconnected across a broad range of ‘things’ to deliver an integrated yet distributed solution,” says Michael Swindell Sr. Vice President of Products at Embarcadero. “With the increasing focus on IoT app development and the potential for the number of connected ‘things’, developers will need to focus more on the creation of innovative and practical apps that leverage IoT, and less on the mechanics of connecting each ‘thing’.”
New Embarcadero Technologies Enabling the Development of Connected Apps for IoT
Embarcadero’s strategy for IoT is to focus on four key areas of interconnection: mobile/desktop devices; gadgets; cloud services; and, data. Embarcadero offers new technologies to address these key areas and enable the development of a new breed of connected apps for the IoT market. New technologies include:
- User Interface (UI) Design for Multiple Form Factors and Devices: Embarcadero’s new FireUI enables developers to create a shared master UI form across all devices and form factors, leveraging common user interface source code that can be optimized for the native platform experience on each specific device form factor.
- Bluetooth and Wi-Fi App Tethering: Developers can instantly connect disparate devices via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi app tethering, enabling app connected solutions that span the thousands of consumer and industrial gadgets, devices, PCs, and sensors available today.
- Enterprise Mobility Services (EMS): Enterprise Mobility Services support connectivity with backend enterprise data and APIs essential for building connected apps for the Internet of Things. As a turnkey mobile middleware solution, EMS can easily be deployed on premise or into a private cloud, and provides user authentication and analytics.
General Availability
With today’s launch of the latest release of Appmethod, Embarcadero’s new technologies for enabling the development of connected apps are available immediately.
Supporting Developers as They Build Apps that Power the Internet of Things
In recent years, Embarcadero has provided technologies and tools that enable developers to build apps natively for all major mobile and desktop platforms using the same source code across all devices. Additionally, Embarcadero has delivered app tethering technology to quickly connect, share data, and drive actions between apps and devices. The company has also delivered its hallmark enterprise and embedded data access technology for local, middleware, and server side databases across all of these platforms. While these solutions, together, have represented a revolution in modern application design, Embarcadero’s IoT strategy and its most recent product releases represent a convergence.
“The Internet of Things will advance the utility and productivity of software for consumers, enterprises and industries. Its gadgets and sensors are today’s new key UX elements that can extend the user experience beyond the screen while leveraging data from multiple endpoints,” says Swindell. “The next big challenge and opportunity for developers will be building the apps that power the Internet of Things.”
Highlights from the Embarcadero 2014 Internet of Things Developer Survey
Embarcadero fielded an online survey of developers in August 2014 to better understand how IoT is impacting their area of focus, as well as their short and long-term application development plans. Of the 920 respondents:
- One third (31%) say they are already working on IoT apps; 86% of those not yet engaged in IoT are planning to begin connected app development starting in the next 18 months
- 68% plan on spending at least the same or more time on developing apps for IoT within the next year
- 79% say its important to have multi-device and IoT platform development tools
- Security (44%), Privacy (31%), and Authentication/Authorization (27%) are the biggest challenges when creating apps for IoT
- Those currently or planning to develop apps for IoT ranked the Android platform (87%) as the most important.
Supporting Quotes:
- According to Gartner, IoT product and service suppliers will generate incremental revenue exceeding $300 billion, mostly in services, in 2020. It will result in $1.9 trillion in global economic value-add through sales into diverse end markets*.
- “The impact of mobile solutions is undeniable,” said Ray Konopka, President of Raize Software. “Companies are investing heavily in infrastructure to support a new breed of interconnected apps. In the past, mobile solutions tended to be rather isolated. Today, application developers are increasingly being challenged to extend their mobile solutions to communicate with other “things” such as printers, kiosks, turnstiles, and sensors. Effective developer tools like those from Embarcadero are essential for managing the complexity that all of this interconnection introduces." Raize Software is an Embarcadero Technology Partner providing innovative developer tools since 1995.
About Embarcadero Technologies
Embarcadero Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of award-winning tools for application developers and database professionals so they can design systems right, build them faster and run them better, regardless of their platform or programming language. Ninety of the Fortune 100 and an active community of more than three million users worldwide rely on Embarcadero products to increase productivity, reduce costs, simplify change management and compliance, and accelerate innovation. Founded in 1993, Embarcadero is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices located around the world. To learn more, please visit http://www.embarcadero.com/.
* More information at http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2636073