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Microsoft goes after RIM customers

by on23 October 2007

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Will unveil System Center Mobile Device Manager


Microsoft Corporation
has released new software that it claims will manage advanced mobile phones in much the same way software works with personal computers.  The new software is directed at Research in Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry phone.

Mobile phones and devices are quickly becoming critical productivity tools for business professionals and these new smart phones have the sophistication and computing capability to both help business people and create integration nightmares for IT technology administrators. When upgrades to mobile devices are made, IT administrators do not want to have to release them for hundreds of iterations of devices; they want to create one release and make it applicable to all devices to be upgraded.

Enter Microsoft, which says it will showcase new software at this week’s CTIA wireless conference in San Francisco, California that will make managing the diverse devices much easier.  Known as Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008, it will allow IT administrators to send applications to mobile phones, provide security control and help manage administration of mobile devices, which are rapidly becoming more complicated and more widely used in business.

Microsoft’s Windows Mobile devices, which have previously been sold through retail stores, now plans to appeal to large organizations who buy phones in bulk for their workforces, and has announced that it has a goal to sell over 20 million Windows Mobile licenses in FY 2008. This market is currently dominated by RIM’s BlackBerry smart mobile phone.  Rumors have been circulating for some time that Microsoft is interested in acquiring RIM, as RIM manufactures both the software and hardware for its devices, while offering the services to help its customers deploy them.

Microsoft has also indicated that it is partnering with Enterprise Mobile, a service company, to build and deploy Windows Mobile phones that are customized for different organizations, working with a variety of wireless carriers and handset manufacturers.  Mobile phones that will support Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager will be available from Samsung Electronics, Motorola Inc., and Palm Inc. in Q2 of 2008.

Read more here.

Last modified on 23 October 2007
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