In the report entitled ‘Mobilizing the Enterprise: Mobile Middleware Market Forecast and Analysis 2000-2005,’ its authors forecast that the industry will explode at a compound annual growth rate of 61 percent from $137-million in 2000 to $1.5-billion by 2005.

To stay competitive in a global marketplace, enterprises must ensure that their mobile workers have access to critical information via a number of mobile devices. Their increase dependency on remote workers will drive the demand for mobile middleware, said Stephen Drake, senior analyst for IDC’s Wireless and Mobile Enterprise Access program.

• U.S. and Western Europe mobile workers will drive the adoption of wireless projects throughout the enterprise and vertical industries.
• The number of mobile professionals in the U.S. and Western Europe will reach 27 million and 18 million, respectively.
• Mobile middleware vendors will need to focus on critical deployment factors such as cost-effective, secure, and scalable solutions.
• To broaden business opportunities and creditability, middleware vendors are advised to seek out partnerships with systems integrators, consultant firms, professional service organizations, value-added resellers, applications providers, and service providers.

Mr. Drake told a Reuters’ report that he expects large players in the traditional middleware area, IBM Corp. and BEA Systems Inc. to partner with some of the 30 smaller companies that specialize in wireless middleware, as venture capital continues to flow into this area.