Honeywell launches marketplace for enterprise apps
The Honeywell Marketplace is designed to give enterprise users the sort of simple experience they might expect from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
Seeking to expand the reach of its software business, Honeywell on Tuesday is launching a new marketplace for enterprise apps. The Honeywell Marketplace, which
offers apps from Honeywell and independent software vendors (ISVs), is designed to give enterprise users the sort of simple experience they might expect when they’re downloading a consumer application from the Apple App Store or Google Play.
While Honeywell is traditionally known for hardware like handheld computers, the company built the marketplace to provide customers with comprehensive solutions, Lori Haggart, Honeywell’s director of software innovation, said to ZDNet.
“We realized hardware alone is not going to provide customers that end-to-end offering,” she said. “This marketplace gives us the platform to do that, and it sets Honeywell up to be a thought leader in this space.”
While enterprise technology increasingly delivers a consumer tech-like experience, Haggart said that “in the software industrial space where Honeywell plays, we haven’t seen this sort of marketplace from anyone.”
At launch, the Honeywell Marketplace will offer access to around 30 Honeywell apps, such as its Voice Maintenance & Inspection application, and roughly 50 third-party applications. The marketplace is designed to cater to a wide range including distribution centers, health care, manufacturing, retail, and transportation and logistics. It so far includes applications for asset tracking, point-of-sale software for retailers, push-to-talk communications, medical tracking for hospitals and password management for mobile devices.
The goal is to have hundreds of applications available on the marketplace by the end of the year, Haggart said. Vendors can offer their apps on the marketplace after going through a cybersecurity testing and validation process. The marketplace is designed to be hardware-agnostic, so it should include applications that work with devices from Honeywell or other device makers.
Up to this point, Haggart said, Honeywell’s software go-to-market strategy has been fairly targeted.
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