June 13, 2005 (Computerworld) --
ORLANDO -- Planned updates to Exchange Server 2003 and Windows Mobile 5.0 that Microsoft Corp. unveiled at its TechEd 2005 conference last week gave some corporate users cause to reconsider their BlackBerry infrastructures. The updates, due this fall, will let systems administrators treat Windows-based mobile devices just as they would PCs and laptops. Exchange Server will be able to push e-mail, calendars and contact lists to mobile clients without help from middleware, which Microsoft claimed as an advantage over Research In Motion Ltd.'s popular BlackBerry wireless devices. Built-in functionality to synchronize Exchange with mobile devices caught the attention of Butch Chatham, a principal systems administration analyst at Smithfield Foods Inc. The Smithfield, Va.-based pork processor currently uses RIM's BlackBerry Enterprise Server to deliver e-mail to hundreds of mobile users. Chatham said he will look into the possibility of getting rid of the BlackBerry technology to help Smithfield reduce costs, benefit from more tightly integrated systems and provide better security through new capabilities that will let administrators remotely "wipe" information from lost or stolen devices. "BlackBerry has some of these features," Chatham said. "But to be able to bring that onto Exchange Server and not have to manage multiple servers is an opportunity for consolidation." Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group in San Jose, said the updates are "Microsoft's biggest effort to turn its mobile client into a true RIM alternative." He added that in the near term, the odds are slim that many BlackBerry users will switch. But in the longer term, Enderle said, companies will likely weigh their alternatives -- especially as they extend mobile capabilities to more employees and as Windows-based handhelds that are "as easy to use as BlackBerry" hit the market. "We're so invested in BlackBerry, we're not going anywhere," said Don Browning, a solution architect and manager in the development group at a broadcasting company that he declined to name. The company delivers e-mail to at least 1,000 BlackBerry users and just purchased 300 new devices, he said. Describing himself as "a complete addict," Browning added that his BlackBerry is the perfect size, unlike the Windows-based Pocket PC. Ross McKenzie, director of information systems at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Heath, said he would like to be able to reset devices or cancel service to lost or stolen handhelds, which Microsoft will support in its updates. But the Baltimore-based institution won't force its 40 BlackBerry users to switch, McKenzie said, adding that he expects to support both BlackBerry and Windows-based devices. John Starkweather, a senior product manager at Microsoft, acknowledged that most of the company's upcoming capabilities are already available from RIM,Good Technology Inc. and other vendors, which also offer options for connecting to rival mail servers such as Notes. But their approaches are "cost-prohibitive for most businesses," he claimed.
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