Odyssey to manage BlackBerry devices

Computerworld - Odyssey Software Inc. said today that it will expand its Athena mobile device management product, which is used for Windows Mobile and Windows Embedded handhelds, to include support for BlackBerry devices.

The software for BlackBerry device management will ship sometime in 2010, said CEO Mark Gentile in an interview. Pricing has not been announced.

Odyssey, founded in 1996 and based in West Henrietta, N.Y., has sold management software to hundreds of companies, bringing 2 million wireless and mobile devices under management, Gentile said. Motorola Inc. licensed several Athena device-side components that provide various features within its MSP platform.

Sybase Inc. is a major competitor to Odyssey for device management, Gentile said. However, Odyssey has been unable to compete against Sybase and others in organizations that use Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry devices, which are widely deployed to give workers mobile access to e-mail.

Odyssey will continue to support its Athena software for Windows Mobile and Windows Embedded management but is looking a "expanding its base" with support for BlackBerry, Gentile said. The move to support BlackBerry should not be construed as a move away from Windows Mobile, he noted, although some analysts have projected the end of Windows Mobile in the next two years, saying Microsoft Corp. does not see it as a profitable mobile platform in the long run.

"We still see very strong Windows Mobile deployments and are looking to expand our base [with BlackBerry] along with Windows Mobile," Gentile said. "Those two platforms give us the lion's share of enterprise deployments."

In defense of Windows Mobile, Gentile called it a "superior OS" compared with others on the market, especially for running enterprise applications such as CRM. He said that Windows Mobile devices don't have a user experience and interface equal to those of Apple Inc.'s iPhone but that he is confident Microsoft is investing in ways to improve the user experience.

"I don't think we're seeing the end of Windows Mobile at all," he added.

IT shops that buy Athena for BlackBerry would not need to load any software on the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), although some software would be loaded on client devices. In addition, BES would still provide all the functions that RIM has built into it.

In addition, IT managers could use Athena for BlackBerry on their industry-standard management consoles, without needing any Odyssey server components or consoles. "The Holy Grail for IT is not to have any individual point solutions," Gentile said. "They want to use one tool to manage all their computing assets, including desktops."

While many large businesses have started to grapple with management of handheld devices, there are many that have not, Gentile said. "Things are better today than a few years ago, and IT managers have come to the realization that they can't ignore management of these devices," he said.

Features of Athena that work with Windows Mobile will be extended to the BlackBerry, including remote control, provisioning and asset reporting.

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