Microsoft Makes Mobile Pitch To the Enterprise

Angling for business customers eager to reproduce the office experience on the road, Microsoft took the wraps off the newest edition of its mobile software platform today at the 3GSM World in Barcelona, Spain, which incorporates a number of productivity and manageability features Microsoft hopes will go over well with the both power users and IT managers.

Microsoft says the Windows Mobile 6 platform adds capabilities that will resonate with the enterprise set, including better administrative control, improved security, more advanced communications features, and a sophisticated user interface.

Microsoft Windows Mobile 6 includes a number of security elements to guard devices, including Exchange Server policies and certificate options, as well as storage card encryption. The platform also continues to support remote and local device wipe. Additionally, the Windows Mobile 6 software also applies Information Rights Management (IRM) technology, which manages access, storage, and printing of confidential information. Microsoft boasts that Windows Mobile 6 is the only smartphone platform to support the IRM technology which is commonly used on PCs to safeguard sensitive data on PCs.

Another selling point Microsoft is touting is that because Windows Mobile 6 software works easily with other Microsoft business applications, deploying devices running on the Windows Mobile 6 platform should be a relatively easy process. Microsoft is also hawking a number of other features that the vendor says make Windows Mobile 6 an obvious choice for businesses, including the bundling of mobile versions of Microsoft .NET Compact Framework and Microsoft SQL server into the software platform which can simplify the development of sales tools.

The software also includes an application that end users can tap to use as modem for a laptop with either Bluetooth wireless or a cable connection. The software also offers some interesting options for wireless operators and device manufacturers such as Hewlett-Packard to integrate voice-over-IP solutions into their smartphones.In many ways, Microsoft says the Windows Mobile 6 mirrors the appearance and usability of desktop software to appeal directly to business users. End users can see e-mails in their original rich HTML format with live Web links and links to SharePoint servers. Windows Mobile 6 devices rely on Direct Push technology for e-mail delivery and automatic Outlook synchronization through Microsoft Exchange Server. The platform also includes mobile versions of Office Outlook, Office Word, Office Excel, and Office PowerPoint so that end users can continue to be productive in the field.

The first devices running on the new software will be available by the second quarter this year. T-Mobile Dash software will be updated with Windows Mobile 6 in the near future. Existing T-Mobile Dash customers will also be able to upgrade their devices with Windows Mobile 5.0 and 6.0 software within the next few months.