Microsoft extended its reach into wireless push e-mail technology this week by naming four carriers and four new Windows Mobile-based smart phones and handhelds that will support its Direct Push technology.
In the announcement from the 3GSM World Conference 2006 in Barcelona, the carriers said that they will provide free upgrades to devices running Windows Mobile 5.0 with Messaging and Security Feature Pack (MSFP) by Microsoft to enable the Direct Push functionality.
Reacting to the announcement today, several business users and IT managers of wireless e-mail from Research In Motion said that they welcomed Microsoft's progress into wireless e-mail, given NTP's ongoing patent lawsuit against RIM's BlackBerry wireless e-mail service, the leader in the field.
But users and analysts also said that Windows Mobile 5.0 must improve to be widely adopted by end users.
Push Comes to Shove
John Halamka, CIO at Caregroup Healthcare System in Boston, supports 500 RIM users and has rigorously tested a Palm Treo, but has found it wanting when compared to the BlackBerry.
"Direct Push is good, but my experience with all Microsoft mobile technologies is that they are not as easy to use as BlackBerry," he said. RIM's BlackBerry Enterprise Server with Exchange is "already seamless and highly reliable," he said. Halamka called the Microsoft mobile client "clunky."
On the other hand, an IT manager who supports 220 attorneys and legal staffers who use BlackBerry said that the Microsoft advances are encouraging.
"Microsoft's entry into any technology arena ought to seriously scare competitors in that space," said Frank Gillman, director of technology at Allen Matkins, a law firm in Los Angeles. "Companies heavily invested in the Microsoft Exchange environment will see this as a viable alternative for wireless e-mail. We would, too."
John Starkweather, group product manager at Microsoft, said in a telephone interview yesterday that the advent of wireless e-mail via Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 and Windows Mobile 5.0 devices would vastly increase access to wireless e-mail.
There are potentially tens of millions of business users, he said, compared with 8 million to 10 million who use systems from RIM, Good Technology, and others.
Commonly, technologies from RIM and others require an additional and costly e-mail server, Starkweather noted.
About 100 carriers currently support Microsoft's Direct Push, Starkweather said. The only four named, however, were Cingular Wireless, Orange, T-Mobile, and Vodafone Group. All four announced free upgrades for customers of Windows Mobile 5.0, which enables Direct Push. Microsoft made its announcement on Monday at the 3GSM Congress. Windows Mobile 5.0 was announced last May, with Direct Push and MSFP functions announced shortly afterward.
Not User Friendly
Despite Microsoft's announcement this week, industry analysts said that they still feel Windows Mobile 5.0 is not user friendly, and they worry about the ease of making the MSFP upgrade.
"Ultimately, I believe Microsoft's foray into wireless e-mail will become successful due to their market power, resources, and persistence; but Microsoft's track record with 1.0 releases has been uninspiring, and therefore I believe it will take time for Microsoft to improve their product to the point where many users begin switching to it," said Todd Kort, an analyst at Gartner.
He added that it is "naive" to think that BlackBerry users will suddenly switch to Direct Push, given RIM's eight years in the market. But when Microsoft partners develop devices that are easier to use, and when companies begin pushing customer relationship management and sales-force automation tools to mobile devices, in addition to e-mail, RIM will probably begin losing customers, Kort said.
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