Zebra Technologies, a leader in barcode scanners and barcode printers, has announced it is transitioning its iFactr cross-platform mobile application development environment to an open-source model.

 This will make it easier for organizations to transition to modern mobile operating systems (OS).

The explosive growth of Android and the use of enterprise applications across iOS, Android and legacy Microsoft-based devices have changed the needs of enterprise users. The iFactr platform enables cross-OS application development so users can invest their resources in developing applications once while getting the benefit of multi-OS system compatibility.

This will allow them to focus on innovative new capabilities and workflows instead of supporting multiple OS application versions deployed across their enterprise.

As a leading provider of enterprise mobile computing, Zebra continues to lead the industry in the migration to modern OS such as Android and Windows 10.  Zebra is transitioning the iFactr development environment to an open-source model to further accelerate innovation in multi-OS application development, reduce the cost of using related development tools and provide customers more options to support them through their OS transition.

Key facts

•    Zebra is transitioning iFactr to an open-sourced software platform to allow customers, partners and an industry-wide development community to innovate and advance the platform more rapidly while reducing barriers and adoption costs.

•    Open-sourcing encourages collaboration, rapid prototyping and innovation, which benefits the industry overall.

•    By removing cost barriers and friction through open-sourcing the iFactr platform, Zebra will help customers accelerate their OS transition so they can reach higher levels of productivity and service.

•    The open-sourced code can be found on GitHub.com, a leading development platform and community that is used by millions of developers around the globe. Zebra experts will contribute and actively interact with this community.

Bill Burns, senior vice president, Enterprise Visibility & Mobility, Zebra Technologies, said: “We are currently experiencing the largest operating system (OS) migration in the history of enterprise mobile computing. Open-sourcing the iFactr platform provides our customers more flexibility to support their move to modern mobile OS.” – TradeArabia News Service