.KEYWORD thinairapps
.FLYINGHEAD MOBILE ENTERPRISE
.TITLE The Palm i705 Wireless Messaging Solution satisfies the needs of today’s business world
.FEATURE
.SPOTLIGHT FIGALT cover.gif
.SUMMARY As business computing goes increasingly mobile, the transition is having a profound effect on enterprises, developers, and software vendors alike. Each group has its own concerns as it attempts to stay current in this new environment. Fulfilling these needs and addressing these concerns is the goal of the Palm i705 Wireless Messaging Solution. Contributing Editor Steve Niles takes a detailed look at the various components of this vital enterprise solution.
.AUTHOR Steve Niles
As business computing goes increasingly mobile, the transition is having a profound effect on enterprises, developers, and software vendors alike. Each group has its own concerns as it attempts to stay current in this new environment. Jonathan R. Oakes, Palm’s Director of Enterprise Strategy and Planning and the former CEO of ThinAirApps (at http://www.thinairapps.com) recently discussed Palm’s enterprise software strategy designed to help enterprises, developers, and software vendors get the products and services they need. Oakes began by outlining the concerns of each group.
.H1 Enterprises
Enterprises have more mobile workers than ever before, and they need solutions that provide greater productivity when working on the road. Enterprises also have increasing security concerns around mobile information. How do companies protect confidential corporate documents when they’re being carried around electronically on handheld devices or sent over the airwaves as wireless email? Speaking of email, enterprises need an integrated, end-to-end solution for mobile email. They also need to lower support and deployment costs and to find answers to their fears about manageability problems.
.H1 Developers
In this world of mobile computing, developers have their own unique challenges. They need find ways to deliver enterprise applications and data to handheld devices. Oakes says that they best way to do this is to extend existing business logic to the device through common standards and to leverage their existing skills and development tools. Ideally, the developers will find a way to reduce the difficulty of developing mobile solutions.
.H1 Traditional software vendors
Software vendors also need to extend their solutions to Palm handhelds and need a faster way to "mobilize" applications. They want their software to seamlessly run on all devices and networks.
.H1 The Palm i705 Wireless Messaging Solution
Fulfilling these needs and addressing these concerns is the goal of the Palm i705 Wireless Messaging Solution. This enterprise-class, end-to-end, behind-the-firewall, wireless messaging solution, based on the new Palm i705 wireless handheld was announced on January 28, 2002. It’s designed to directly address the manageability, support, and security concerns of IT managers who are deploying handhelds to large numbers of mobile workers.
Palm believes its Palm Wireless Messaging Solution offers a lower total cost of ownership and faster return on investment for enterprises than similar, competitive products. The total functionality of the solution, including manageability, flexibility, setup/activation, and support and service plans, are designed to help IT departments streamline deployment. For example, IT departments will only need to contact one support center to handle any questions on the entire enterprise solution. As for security concerns, the new solution’s enterprise-oriented security has end-to-end encryption behind the firewall. This should directly protect your enterprise’s valuable information and resources.
The Palm i705 Wireless Messaging Solution began beta testing at Fortune 1000 companies in the United States in February, and should be commercially available in the summer. The solution comprises the following components:
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET The secure, behind-the-firewall Palm Wireless Messaging Server;
.BULLET An Enterprise Software Suite;
.BULLET Palm IT technical support;
.BULLET The Palm.Net enterprise wireless service;
.BULLET The Palm i705 handheld.
.END_LIST
We’ll take a closer look at each of these.
.H2 Palm Wireless Messaging Server
Basically, the Palm Wireless Messaging Server is the infrastructure that connects to the Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Domino groupware server, located behind the corporate firewall, and securely sends and receives encrypted emails to and from the Palm i705 handheld. The end-to-end encryption is based on industry-standard symmetric key algorithms. The server scales to host large volumes of mobile users. It’s also designed to fit seamlessly into an enterprise infrastructure without requiring significant changes to security policies or existing groupware servers.
Additional server security is provided by password-protected access that leverages native enterprise authentication services supported by Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino. Administrators use a graphical administrative tool to manage the users, monitor usage via SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), and view activity and event logs.
The Palm MultiMail Deluxe email client lets you send and receive email (both pushed to the device and pulled) to and from both your business and personal accounts using the same email client. Palm lets you manage which emails you want sent to your handheld through the use of filters. The filters are configured on the handheld and then wirelessly sent to the server, where they are executed. You may also synchronize your email onto the handheld from your desktop PC. The MultiMail client works in both online and offline modes, so you can work seamlessly at all times, even when out of wireless coverage.
.H2 Enterprise Software Suite
The Enterprise Software Suite is bundled with the solution on an expansion card in order to transform the handheld from a standalone device to be part of an enterprise-wide solution. To set up each device, IT managers insert the Palm expansion card into the handheld, and the card automatically launches a utility that flashes ROM with new applications and copies additional software into RAM. A menu is then displayed that facilitates the configuration of the device to use the messaging server. The expansion card can be customized by the IT departments by adding their companies’ standard applications to the card. That way, corporate applications are installed on the devices at the same time they are provisioned for the Palm Wireless Messaging Solution.
Handheld software in the suite includes the MultiMail Deluxe email client, a new activation application, the Palm Web browser, and AOL Instant Messenger. Desktop software includes the MultiMail Deluxe conduit, which synchronizes with Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino, and the Palm Desktop software for the Palm i705 handheld.
.H2 IT Technical Support
Palm offers IT managers a single point of contact for all their support questions with the end-to-end phone and email support. Standard support is five days a week, 12 hours a day. A premium option that offers seven days a week, 24 hour a day service, can be purchased separately.
.H2 Palm.Net Enterprise Wireless Services
With Palm.Net Enterprise Wireless Services, IT departments will receive a set of services that provides flexibility, manageability, and ease of activation for handheld deployment. Flexibility comes in the form of a range of options for wireless service payments. Companies can choose to receive one invoice for all their enterprise users, have the individual users pay directly (and be reimbursed by the company later), or use a combination of options.
The manageability of the solution can be seen when the IT departments need to handle incidents, such as lost, stolen, or damaged handhelds. An IT manager can "quarantine" a lost or stolen handheld and easily "lock out" the device from accessing the network. The manager can then "unquarantine" it if the device is found. If a handheld is damaged, a user returns the device to the IT manager who can swap the network ID of the damaged handheld and apply it to a new handheld. The new handheld is then given to the user who performs a HotSync operation to get back up and running.
.H2 The Palm i705 Handheld
The Palm i705 handheld was reviewed in the February 2002 issue of PalmPower’s Enterprise Edition at http://www.palmpowerenterprise.com/issues/issue200202/i705001.html. The wireless Palm handheld provides always-on "push" secure end-to-end email for corporate email accounts; personal email with up to six Internet email accounts; Web browsing via Google search or URL entry; and classic Palm PIM (Personal Information Management) features.
.H1 Makes vendors happy too
Many independent vendors of Palm OS software are also testing the new Palm enterprise solution and believe it can help their customers. Siebel Systems (at http://www.siebel.com), for example, markets a piece of Sales Force Automation software. According to Mercedes Ellison, vice president of Alliances at Siebel Systems, "By using a Palm i705 handheld, mobile sales professionals can now be even more effective in the sales process. Not only does it provide the always-on access to email, but Siebel Systems sees the i705 handheld as a cornerstone of application deployments for the Sales Force Automation market."
.H1 Pricing and availability
The Palm i705 Wireless Messaging Solution will be sold through selected Palm authorized channel partners starting this summer. If you purchase the Palm i705 handheld for individual use, you can integrate your device into a later companywide deployment of the Palm i705 Wireless Messaging Solution.
The server is priced at $2,499 (estimated U.S. street price) and accommodates 25 client licenses, and additional client licenses can be added for $49 each. Volume discounts will be available, which reduce the cost-per-seat. Annual support and maintenance are priced at 17.5 percent of the total license fee.
Palm.Net service will be available for the enterprise on a flat-rate monthly plan for $39.99 per month. Discounts will be available with annual service contracts, and volume service discounts also will be available.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on ThinAirApps, visit http://www.thinairapps.com.
For the article, "Palm i705: a fresh new way to bring wireless connectivity to the enterprise," by Steve Niles in the February 2002 issue of PalmPower’s Enterprise Edition, visit http://www.palmpowerenterprise.com/issues/issue200202/i705001.html.
For more information on Siebel Systems, visit http://www.siebel.com.
For more information on Palm handhelds, visit http://www.palm.com.
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.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO
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