Intellisync pushes push e-mail

Intellisync put a little more mobility in its mobility platform this week by introducing a suite of middleware products that support on-demand and push e-mail, PIM synchronization, device management and secure file access for hundreds of SyncML-based and other mass-market wireless devices.

Together with the company’s Mobile Suite product, Intellisync’s goAnywhere solution allows mobile operators to reach the consumer, mobile professional, small- to medium-size business and large enterprise markets using almost any wireless device for a variety of applications.

goAnywhere is currently deployed by Hutchison Whampoa’s ‘3" network in Europe to push e-mail with or without attachments and for over-the-air (OTA) file delivery. It supports any Open Mobile Alliance CP- or SyncML-compliant device, including Symbian, Nokia, Motorola, BREW, J2ME, DoJa, Windows Mobile for Pocket and Smartphone, and Palm OS.

Using goAnywhere, carriers can extend enterprise applications to mobile devices, providing secure VPN, behind-the-firewall access to enterprise data and applications like Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes and pre-specified files and folders from any browser-enabled device.

"Synchronization is the unsexy undercurrent to what makes mobility happen," said Rip Gerber, chief marketing officer and executive vice president at Intellisync.

The Mobile Suite is deployed by mobile operators worldwide, including Verizon Wireless and Eurotel. In addition to pushing data, it supports mobile system management functions such as OTA handset configuration, software updates, back up and restore, troubleshooting and theft or loss protection.

"If you leave your device on the train, you can call the IT department and they can erase all the data from it and download it to a new device," Gerber said.

With other platforms, said Gerber, carriers are limited to one device such as the Blackberry supported by Research in Motion (RIM.) Intellisync’s platform supports Blackberry and most other SyncML devices.

"We now can bring the office to your phone and push any critical data to any mobile device in order to maximize over-the-air productivity," Gerber said.

By supporting multiple devices and various productivity applications, Intellisync allows operators to position wireless data services as their own rather than associating them with the device. "Operators like to own the customer, but when customers look at a Blackberry they don’t see the carrier brand," Gerber said.

For Intellisync, the new capability will extend its market internationally, especially in Asia where the company recently introduced fully localized versions of its SyncML-based solutions in the Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese languages.

Last month in a report called "Worldwide Mobile Middleware 2004-2008 Forecast and Analysis" (IDC# 32212, November 2004), IDC ranked Intellisync as the No. 3 mobile middleware provider in the world, based on its 2003 revenues and 24.1 percent market share growth from 2002 to 2003.