The burgeoning use of the iPad is bringing with it a new way of doing business.

Its sheer simplicity makes it a natural tool for consuming and sharing digital information. While other media devices such as PCs, laptops and smartphones have also become must-have devices, it's the iPad that is fast becoming the tool di rigueur in the American workforce.

Which got Ken Kay thinking.

As a long time observer of new technologies, Kay witnessed the birth of the iPad with great excitement. A software entrepreneur and angel investor, he noticed some corporations starting to develop custom mobile presentation tools for their sales force.

"Large pharmaceutical and financial services companies were hiring software development firms at great expense to develop apps to deliver promotional messages such as simple slides and videos to prospects and customers," noted Kay. "And I started to notice a pattern."

Specifically, he quickly noticed these custom apps were all basically the same, featuring four primary components - slideshow mode to display a deck of promotional slides, links to videos, links to web pages, and links to an e-mail app or a contact page

And with this, Kay also noticed these custom apps were not designed for easy content updates.

Thus his conclusion was that "within a short time, these apps would become obsolete because the burden of keeping the content up-to-date was too onerous."

Seeing an opportunity to build a flexible platform that allowed users to easily create and maintain iPad/iPhone portfolios, Kay developed AgileZoom.

A marketing platform designed to be extremely easy for non-technical user to create and update iPad/iPhone portfolios, AgileZoom is an "App-Within-An-App." Using a file format familiar to most computer users (PDF), a non-technical user can create an app by simply uploading a file. Once uploaded, the file hooks into many app features such as videos, web browsing, email, animations, maps to deliver your message.

This can then be used as a presentation tool or a mobile brochure that an audience can browse at their convenience.

Additionally, AgileZoom also tracks all user actions (such as page views, clicks, emails, videos watched) and automatically creates usage reports.

"A true marketer's dream," noted Kay.

AgileZoom Benefits

Kay is quick to point out that while AgileZoom does not replace a company web site, it does offer three key advantages:

 AgileZoom takes advantage of the native features of iPad and iPhone, and as much, are more responsive and engaging. And the quality of the app experience on an iPad will continue to rise, according to Kay, as the product is still in its infancy.

 AgileZoom requires no special knowledge such as HTML or Javascript to create and maintain content. This is a huge advantage, says Kay, as this user-friendly quality is what iPad users want most. Users can create and maintain compelling content with such common tools as as PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, and Acrobat.

 AgileZoom offers a user experience very different from the a la carte, self directed navigation of a typical web site. And this is something Kay is most proud of. "With a specific beginning, middle, and end, AgileZoom offers a user a rare experience: finishibility. The author curates a sequence of text, images, and videos for maximum impact on the audience." With this, Kay added that "AgileZoom offers a touchable, interactive, dynamic app experience that takes an audience to new levels of sensory engagement."

Designed for easy sharing, AgileZoom allows an ease of sharing copies with a simple touch of a link inside the app to send an e-mail.

"The iPad is truly becoming without equal, and from a business standpoint, AgileZoom enables a user to take advantage of mobile technology to engage and audience like no other, while also tracking their usage," said Kay, adding "it's a true win-win."