Microsoft has unveiled a new version of its Mobile Information
Server, touting the release as offering better security, more
features and better manageability.
Among those features will be the automatic pushing of some
collaborative components in Microsoft's messaging platform,
Exchange, and its client application, Outlook. Updates to calendar
entries and meetings, for example, will automatically be sent to
wireless devices without users having to synchronize the data from
a desktop cradle connected to a networked PC.
In the last release six months ago, e-mail messages were pushed to
devices.
"Mobile access will be a core part of Exchange in the same way
[Outlook Web Access] is," said Chuck Sabin, product manager for the
Mobile Information Server
Mobile Information Server 2002 Enterprise Edition came out so soon
after its predecessor in response to customer and partner feedback,
the company said in a statement yesterday
In addition to making synchronisation of more data automatic,
Microsoft has added secure Secure Sockets Layer technology for the
link between a corporate network and a carrier for wireless
synchronisation. The previous edition relied on the security
protocol and user credentials from the corporate network to
authenticate users with the carrier network. When passing data
between the corporate and carrier networks, everything appeared in
clear text, exposing corporate network information.
Now, however, users will not carry corporate network information to
the carrier when their devices receive and transmit data. "You're
passing an alternate set of credentials that are only available to
mobile users," Sabin said.
Users also requested better management tools, Sabin said. Mobile
Information Server 2002 includes provisioning tools and personal
setup tools for end users to manage personal identification numbers
and user access codes.
In conjunction with the release, Compaq Computer said it would
offer a packaged solution for the Mobile Information Server, and
Hewlett-Packard said it would offer HP Express Services, which
allows up to 50 mobile professionals in a company to conduct a
60-day pilot study of the product.