Mobility software specialist Dexterra aims to embed itself as the mobile data platform of choice for a number of key telcos during the next year, enabling them to develop a new generation of services for enterprise customers and resellers.

EMEA Managing Director Rikke Helms said the adoption of Dexterra technoloy as the telco's vital middleware component for delivering enterprise data to mobile devices is one of the biggest drivers in the vendor's marketing strategy.

"Making sure that the telecoms industry gets the next generation of mobile data platforms in place so it can take on the next wave of data services and deliver them out to multiple networks and on to a variety of devices will be very important," she said.

"So will selling to large industries. We will offer the Dexterra platform as a piece of OEM kit for larger enterprise application developers so they can take it and embed it in their technology in areas like insurance claim solutions, mining and utilities, generating more data revenues," added Helms.

Vodafone UK already uses Dexterra technology as the core of its Mobile Applications Service and Helms said she would like to see five similar partnerships with global operators in place, with the carriers using Dexterra's platform and technology in their infrastructure, during the next year.

"Telcos have a lot of relationships with resellers and dealers, so they are the most likely procurement route for hosted data services," she added. "We have discussions with a number of telcos in progress, although we haven't finished the procurement arrangements yet. We will announce these partnerships as they are finalised."

Helms said the current industry focus on data service development for business customers has raised carrier awareness of the need for embedded enabling technology.

"We might just be a ‘boring' infrastructure player but we're right in the middle of that conversation," she commented. "The next level of income operators must find is data revenues, and that means developing and providing services for their business customers."

She said the economic pressure will certainly impact on decision-making processes, making sales cycles longer and introducing more loops of negotiation on pricing.

"The industry will be hit by recession of course, but IT is also an enabler to make sure that the people businesses hold onto will be more productive," Helms added.

"People will need to become more mobile, so mobile data services will be important to enable them to work in different places. It's early days and we will see longer decision-making processes but I'm comfortable with where we are.

"Dexterra is a small, flexible company with a streamlined operation. We used to be hammering doors down all the time, but now the telcos are coming to us and recommending our technology."