INTERVIEW: Backelite's Thomas Sarlandie on the pull of 'develop once run anywhere'

Third is the enduring nightmare of fragmentation. Smartphones haven't solved this, as every Android developer knows to their cost. If anything, the problem is worse.

The fragmentation issue has created an opportunity for specialist firms with 'develop once, publish everywhere' platforms that take a site or app build and spit out versions for different platforms.

Indeed, there's now more of them than ever, with firms like Kony, Usablenet, Wapple and Netbiscuits continuing to spread their message to the world's major brands.

Another with similar ambitions is France's Backelite. It's already working with a number of blue chip firms in its home country, and is now embarking on an expansion programme to take its BK render platform to the international market.

Thomas Sarlandie, CTO at Backelite, explains the opportunity: "More and more companies are looking at the mobile space and realising that it's just not realistic to build the same site hundreds of times, or just build a small number and then fail to reach millions of potential users."

Backelite's BK render platform is based on HTML and existing web tools like CSS3, JavaScript and Ajax, so it's easy for developers to port existing builds to Apple, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile 7, Nokia, Samsung and Java. More than 6,000 devices to be exact.

The system mofidies for the capabilities of each device, supporting advanced interface features like tabs, slideshows and animations on the most advanced handsets.

"It's the same as building a native app. But you do it once, and get coverage across nearly all phones," says Sarlandie.

The message is getting through. Backelite's turnover rose 50 per cent in 2010 to 4.5 million euros, and it counts among its customers Voyages-sncf.com, Pages Jaunes, Fnac Spectacles, Crédit Agricole, Banque Postale, Gaz de France Dolce Vita and more.

Sarlandie admits that its platform – or indeed any similar solution – is not well-suited to complex products like 3D games, for example. But for banks, train operators and so on, it offers a crucial money and time saving shortcut to the mass market.

Credit Agricole, for example, allows customers to check their bank accounts, transfer funds, locate the closest bank branch and more, while Voyages SNCF supports full ticket purchase.

Now, Backelite is looking to expand into the UK, Switzerland, Benelux and the US, and already counts three re-sale partners overseas.

Sarlandie says: "We're getting the message across to brands and also their agencies. They can reach pretty much all users in 48 hours, using existing web tools. We're keen to take this overseas, and we'd like to hear from potenial partners."