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Is RIM really in danger from Microsoft?
I've been reading all week about how Microsoft is going to crush RIM and single-handedly destroy the BlackBerry, thanks to its superfabulous announcement that Windows Mobile 5.0 will now include Windows Mobile Direct Push Technology. That means, according to Reuters, that "with one big swoop Microsoft will give more than 130 million Outlook users the option to access their business e-mail on the go." As a result, RIM and its BlackBerry, with a paltry 3 million users, will just curl up and die. After all, how could it ever survive the sudden onslaught of users suddenly able to receive Microsoft Outlook e-mail on their mobile devices?
Now, you know I'm normally the one to kill off broad swaths of technology with a wave of my little column-writing hand. But I think maybe Microsoft's killing blow won't come quite as quickly as the news reports would have us believe. Moreover, it's possible that while RIM may die, the power of the Treo could kill Microsoft right back.
A thriving business
I don't have a BlackBerry. But neither am I sitting around crying for some sort of Outlook mail-pushing solution from the great savior, Microsoft. I get my Outlook e-mail (along with an updated calendar) pushed to my Treo 600 all day every day, using Sprint Business Connect software. My colleague, Rafe Needleman, does things a little differently. He (along with a lot of CNET executives) uses GoodLink to get his e-mail pushed to his Treo 650, along with his updated calendar, tasks, and contacts. Cingular also now offers Good's mobile e-mail service. Meanwhile, AT&T pushes e-mail to the Windows Mobile-toting Audiovox SMT5600 using SureWave Mobile Office, by JP Mobile. Then, of course, there's Microsoft's own ActiveSync, which works over the air to deliver Outlook e-mail (although that, technically, isn't quite "push" technology, since the Exchange server actually sends an SMS to your device when new mail arrives and initiates a server sync). So, Direct Push is hardly the first technology to offer to pop up Outlook e-mail on a wireless device (which is interesting, since, of course, Microsoft makes Outlook). So, what's with all the breathless predictions that this is the end for RIM? What's the difference between Windows Mobile Direct Push Technology and RIM, BCS, GoodLink, or SureWave?
Look before you leap
Well, at first blush, it does look like Microsoft has this thing sewn up. In the case of RIM and GoodLink, the primary difference is that companies must install expensive servers and proprietary software in order to relay the company mail--and they have to pay licensing fees on top of that. So the cost of administering a single device, according to our in-house CNET IT folks, can range from about $150 (for a data-only gadget) to $330 (for a smart phone). Meanwhile, Windows Mobile Direct Push Technology will come as a free upgrade to Exchange Server 2003. So, free versus not free. Seems easy, right? Hold on a second. For one thing, you have to be running Exchange Server 2003. That alone isn't a safe bet, considering how long it took some offices to upgrade even from Exchange 5.5 to 2000. Plus, you have to trust Exchange to handle all the pushing, and you have to trust Microsoft to support only that element of your newfangled Exchange Server upgrade--and to support devices made by someone other than Microsoft.
Meanwhile, yes, those servers are expensive. But that cost is not the only thing that drives IT managers to decide between one push service and another. In fact, my IT sources tell me that CNET's own switch from RIM to GoodLink was at least partly device-driven. (There's an ongoing argument about the relative merits of RIM and GoodLink, centered around security and administration, and I'm not venturing into that territory, in case you were wondering.) The old BlackBerry gadgets, for one thing, weren't synced wirelessly--they had to sit in a cradle, unless companies such as ours were willing to upgrade our aforementioned expensive servers. But even more interestingly, we, as a company, were just plain lusting after the Treo. And the Treo was all about GoodLink.
In fact, a lot of devices support GoodLink--a much wider variety than support BlackBerry. So even now, despite the temptation of a nice free upgrade to Exchange, there's still the question of the devices. Who's going to go tell Rafe Needleman and company that they have to hand over their Treo 650s and get...well, whatever phones end up running Windows Mobile 5.0? Right now, there are only two that I know of, the HTC Universal and the CeBIT-announced Samsung SGH-i300. The other argument for the Microsoft Death Cloud, of course, is that Nokia and Symbian have both licensed ActiveSync from Microsoft, posing a two-pronged attack with plenty of available gadgets. However, the device argument walks a fine line--you want to give your company access to cool devices such as the Treo, but you also don't want to support every single Tom, Dick, and Harry phone that sports a little ActiveSync.
Good and RIM both have firmly entrenched user bases who are intensely loyal to either the functionality or the devices. And while the Microsoft software bundle might be cheaper, it's also untested, and the gadgets might turn out to be too rare, too varied, or too unwelcome for most offices to leap into the welcoming arms of Direct Push. Oh, and the technology itself isn't due until October. Let's wait at least a decent interval before we hand Microsoft the victory, shall we?
By Molly Wood, section editor, CNET.com
Thursday, June 9, 2005
I've been reading all week about how Microsoft is going to crush RIM and single-handedly destroy the BlackBerry, thanks to its superfabulous announcement that Windows Mobile 5.0 will now include Windows Mobile Direct Push Technology. That means, according to Reuters, that "with one big swoop Microsoft will give more than 130 million Outlook users the option to access their business e-mail on the go." As a result, RIM and its BlackBerry, with a paltry 3 million users, will just curl up and die. After all, how could it ever survive the sudden onslaught of users suddenly able to receive Microsoft Outlook e-mail on their mobile devices?
Now, you know I'm normally the one to kill off broad swaths of technology with a wave of my little column-writing hand. But I think maybe Microsoft's killing blow won't come quite as quickly as the news reports would have us believe. Moreover, it's possible that while RIM may die, the power of the Treo could kill Microsoft right back.
Are you in the Treo, BlackBerry, or "who needs e-mail on a phone" camp?
Post your comment hereI don't have a BlackBerry. But neither am I sitting around crying for some sort of Outlook mail-pushing solution from the great savior, Microsoft. I get my Outlook e-mail (along with an updated calendar) pushed to my Treo 600 all day every day, using Sprint Business Connect software. My colleague, Rafe Needleman, does things a little differently. He (along with a lot of CNET executives) uses GoodLink to get his e-mail pushed to his Treo 650, along with his updated calendar, tasks, and contacts. Cingular also now offers Good's mobile e-mail service. Meanwhile, AT&T pushes e-mail to the Windows Mobile-toting Audiovox SMT5600 using SureWave Mobile Office, by JP Mobile. Then, of course, there's Microsoft's own ActiveSync, which works over the air to deliver Outlook e-mail (although that, technically, isn't quite "push" technology, since the Exchange server actually sends an SMS to your device when new mail arrives and initiates a server sync). So, Direct Push is hardly the first technology to offer to pop up Outlook e-mail on a wireless device (which is interesting, since, of course, Microsoft makes Outlook). So, what's with all the breathless predictions that this is the end for RIM? What's the difference between Windows Mobile Direct Push Technology and RIM, BCS, GoodLink, or SureWave?
Look before you leap
Well, at first blush, it does look like Microsoft has this thing sewn up. In the case of RIM and GoodLink, the primary difference is that companies must install expensive servers and proprietary software in order to relay the company mail--and they have to pay licensing fees on top of that. So the cost of administering a single device, according to our in-house CNET IT folks, can range from about $150 (for a data-only gadget) to $330 (for a smart phone). Meanwhile, Windows Mobile Direct Push Technology will come as a free upgrade to Exchange Server 2003. So, free versus not free. Seems easy, right? Hold on a second. For one thing, you have to be running Exchange Server 2003. That alone isn't a safe bet, considering how long it took some offices to upgrade even from Exchange 5.5 to 2000. Plus, you have to trust Exchange to handle all the pushing, and you have to trust Microsoft to support only that element of your newfangled Exchange Server upgrade--and to support devices made by someone other than Microsoft.
Meanwhile, yes, those servers are expensive. But that cost is not the only thing that drives IT managers to decide between one push service and another. In fact, my IT sources tell me that CNET's own switch from RIM to GoodLink was at least partly device-driven. (There's an ongoing argument about the relative merits of RIM and GoodLink, centered around security and administration, and I'm not venturing into that territory, in case you were wondering.) The old BlackBerry gadgets, for one thing, weren't synced wirelessly--they had to sit in a cradle, unless companies such as ours were willing to upgrade our aforementioned expensive servers. But even more interestingly, we, as a company, were just plain lusting after the Treo. And the Treo was all about GoodLink.
In fact, a lot of devices support GoodLink--a much wider variety than support BlackBerry. So even now, despite the temptation of a nice free upgrade to Exchange, there's still the question of the devices. Who's going to go tell Rafe Needleman and company that they have to hand over their Treo 650s and get...well, whatever phones end up running Windows Mobile 5.0? Right now, there are only two that I know of, the HTC Universal and the CeBIT-announced Samsung SGH-i300. The other argument for the Microsoft Death Cloud, of course, is that Nokia and Symbian have both licensed ActiveSync from Microsoft, posing a two-pronged attack with plenty of available gadgets. However, the device argument walks a fine line--you want to give your company access to cool devices such as the Treo, but you also don't want to support every single Tom, Dick, and Harry phone that sports a little ActiveSync.
Good and RIM both have firmly entrenched user bases who are intensely loyal to either the functionality or the devices. And while the Microsoft software bundle might be cheaper, it's also untested, and the gadgets might turn out to be too rare, too varied, or too unwelcome for most offices to leap into the welcoming arms of Direct Push. Oh, and the technology itself isn't due until October. Let's wait at least a decent interval before we hand Microsoft the victory, shall we?
