Sproqit jumps onboard Ingram Micro's wave

Software vendor pens distribution deal to coincide with the release of its new thin-client software

Mobile software firm Sproqit has signed a distribution deal with Ingram Micro Europe, coinciding with the vendor’s release of Workgroup Edition, a version of its wireless thin-client software aimed at enterprise departments and workgroups.

“Workgroup Edition is the same architecture as Personal Edition [Sproqit’s first software release, aimed at individual users], but taken into a server environment for workgroups,” said Kevin Green, head of business development EMEA at Sproqit. “The deal with Ingram Micro Europe will initially be in the UK and France, but we have the scope to go to 14 countries.”

Sproqit signed a deal with specialist mobile distributor Hugh Symons last year to sell its Personal Edition software with Treo 600 Smartphones.

Sproqit’s software allows users to run applications on their smartphones and connected PDAs. Applications work on a thin-client basis, but can also cache data for offline use. Research In Motion’s (RIM’s) Blackberry, the de facto leader in enterprise mobility PDAs, uses a store-and-forward method, and has an historic user base in email messaging.

“There are a decreasing number of mobile companies such as Seven, Sproqit, Good Technology and IntelliSync in the market – consolidation is occurring,” said Rob Bamforth, a service director at Quocirca. “But it is also a growing market. These two things together are a good thing.”

The deal also ties in with Ingram’s mobile working push, which aims to tie its mobile device distribution with software products.

Sproqit is one of a number of companies positioned to capitalise on a market created by RIM, which has enjoyed considerable success with its Blackberry mobile devices.

“I think wider distribution of software like this is a sign that a single unified end-to-end solution is not going to be ideal for everyone,” said Bamforth. “RIM has done a lot of market making and lots of people buy it. But there is a huge diversity of people out there that want different things from different devices.”