Small Biz Goes Mobile

Small enterprises want their employees to get e-mail and calendaring over mobile devices, including smart phones, according to a recent Yankee Group survey. Cellular carriers are tapping into that demand with hosted services designed for small companies that lack the IT staff or budget to deploy their own mobile solutions.

This summer, Research in Motion, maker of the ubiquitous BlackBerry, released its Hosted BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), a managed version of the BES platform targeted at smaller customers. Cellular carriers also offer a variety of hosted solutions for mobile e-mail from Nokia (Intellisync), Seven, Visto and others designed for small companies with a wide range of operating budgets. Expect more small enterprises to jump on the mobility bandwagon as these vendors make deployment easier. --Sean Ginevan, [email protected]