Samsung Eyes Enterprise With Solutions Exchange Launch

Samsung wants to reach the Fortune 500 companies in the top 10 vertical markets – “Our goal is to touch each and every one of them” – and to offer a hands-on customised product to every carrier. It wants to make it easier for third parties to create software that complements its devices and their unique capabilities – Wagner offered the example of how a surgeon might benefit from Samsung’s hands-free Air Touch technology on tablet – and it wants to search out and advance new technologies.

Exchange will launch with a portfolio of solutions that will include holistic vertical solutions for healthcare, financial services, government and retail, among other verticals; mobile professional solutions for addressing specific line-of-business challenges; and a variety of mobile workforce solutions for sales and service organisations.

Growing Focus

Wagner, who was at BlackBerry before arriving at Samsung three years ago, says he now reports directly to the president of Samsung America. Offering a sense of the investment Samsung plans to make in Solutions Exchanges, without sharing exact figures, Wagner said that when he arrived, he had only “a few people” on his team.

“We grew, and in 2012 we doubled in size. In 2013 we doubled in size again, and in 2014 we’ll be tripling the size of our team in the US market.”

Apple, with the iPhone, made inroads into the enterprise, displacing BlackBerry handsets and paving the way for Samsung. BlackBerry’s current situation – it’s now up for sale and may be split into pieces – certainly is convenient for Samsung.

“I will say the competitive landscape is such that it allows Samsung to accelerate its opportunity,” said Wagner, again refusing to name names.

While Apple may not be as accommodating a rival as BlackBerry – Apple introduced a fingerprint reader on the new iPhone 5S, though within days of its release the technology was found to be vulnerable – neither is Samsung afraid of Apple, which it handily overtook in the consumer space.

“Historically, one of our competitors provides a single SDK and provides minimal support. We’re not only going to go out and talk to partners to support our SDK, but help them to be successful in the various channels,” said Wagner.

“It is that warm hug that will come from Samsung that will give our [independent software vendors] the support they need to be successful.”

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Originally published on eWeek.