Kony Solutions – Twitter Synopsis: Single write-once, run everywhere mobile application platform provides device independent deployment across multiple channels & form factors
PhoCusWright Travel Innovation Summit Established Company Finalist
Just the Facts:
Company Name: Kony Solutions
Website: www.konysolutions.com
Location: San Mateo, CA
Judging Category: Established Company
Business Segment: Mobile Platform
Product Name: Kony Mobile Application Platform
Demonstrated by: Pico Rech, Senior Solutions Engineer
Company Description (from website)
Kony Solutions was founded in 2007 by successful entrepreneur Raj Koneru, who recognized that mobile devices and their capabilities would continue to grow exponentially and be a key driver in the next customer interaction revolution. Kony’s mission is to develop the technologies and applications that facilitate and accelerate customer engagement over any mobile operating system, device and channel.
Kony Solutions provides a suite of products and support services that enable Fortune 500 companies to offer consumers feature-rich mobile applications in less time and at lower costs than any other solution available. Kony’s proprietary Write Once, Run Everywhere single application definition enables mobile offerings to be designed and developed just once, in a device independent manner, and deployed across multiple channels, including on-device applications, mobile web, SMS, Web gadgets, and desktop applications. The Kony Mobile Application Platform™ leverages the Write Once, Run Everywhere technology for designing, developing, deploying and managing mobile applications.
The Kony Solutions team spent the first two years in dedicated development of the mobile application platform without attempting to license it until it was fully ‘baked.’ Kony only went to market in 2009 after fully developing our “Write Once, Run Everywhere” software. The results of this technology investment are remarkable: within the last year, many of the highest profile Fortune 500 companies have selected Kony Solutions for their mobile deployments. To date, about half of the U.S. airline industry has migrated to Kony. The largest financial institution in the world is deploying Kony in over 46 countries. The largest automobile manufacturer in the world has released rich, interactive applications on four major mobile device types using Kony’s Write Once, Run Everywhere technology. The list goes on.
Synopsis:
Challenge Solved:
Need to create multiple mobile applications to address cross platform, cross browser mobile incompatibility issues.
Point of Differentiation:
Write Once, Run everywhere mobile applications.
Applications run on all platforms. Simplifies application development & production support.
Key Innovation:
Single application definition that publishes apps on myriad of mobile platforms.
Subscription model greatly reduces maintenance costs for keeping up with constantly changing mobile landscape.
Assessment
Overall Impression
There are 8,600 combinations of mobile devices, operating systems and browsers – and that number is growing.
It is impractical for a brand to dedicate development resources keep track of all these developments in the mobile space, so strategic decisions are made to not support certain portions of the mobile market.
There is a clear need for a group like Kony to manage this challenge so the brand can focus on running its business and Kony can focus on supporting the platforms.
As Pico explained, Kony Solutions insulates companies from the Death Matrix. I really like that term.
Technological Innovation:
Using a single definition of a code base to support implementation of mobile websites on every mobile platform.
Kony’s setup is robust, includes tools such as ad servers and alert servers.
Business Model Sustainability:
There is also considerable flexibility as either Kony or the client can build the applications and either Kony or the client can host the applications. That dramatically expands their appeal to each of the four quadrants of the development / deployment spectrum.
Kony’s subscription-based model is highly sustainable and should experience a highly beneficial network effect as they add customers and are able to allocate all those platform deployment costs across a wider user base.
Marketplace Impact:
Considering that Kony can now produce a platform-specific implementation of an App in less than a week, and then have it ported to all platforms, they provide rapid speed to market for 100% coverage of the mobile space – that is a compelling proposition.
Kony also claims to have the most aggressive Service Level Agreements in the industry, committing to launch on the platform within 30 days of developer access many times coinciding with the release date of new devices and browsers to the general public.
With 25+ global brand customers in two years, there appears to be a bright future for Kony.
Official Result: PhoCusWright Travel Innovation Summit Established Company Finalist
Community Comments: Kony Solutions What The Hashtag Twitter Archive
The 2010 Travel Innovation Summit is part of the PhoCusWright Conference – Held November 16-18, 2010 at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, Scottsdale, Arizona USA
About Robert Cole
