Microsoft announces Mobile Server taking aim at RIM

Microsoft has announced a new server named “System Center Mobile Device Manager” designed to manage Windows Mobile devices.  The server is being designed to allow for remote management, software provisioning, and VPN access for Windows Mobile devices, or in other words, what the Blackberry Server has done for years now. According to the article Microsoft wants to gain a piece of the enterprise mobile e-mail market, which RIM has an estimated 70% of.  What I wonder is how many people are going to even think about dumping their Blackberry infrastructure in favor of Windows Mobile.  In my experience (now one week) with Windows Mobile, I still find it easier to do everything I want to on the go with my Blackberry, and while I am sure some of it is familiarity (6 years of using a blackberry) it does seem to take more keystrokes or clicks to accomplish the same task. On the other hand, for shops using Good Messaging, or otherwise have applications developed for Windows Mobile, this could be functionality they have been waiting for.  The new server is due out in the first half of 2008, it also offers possibilities for organizations that want to use Lotus Notes Traveler, but require stronger capabilities to manage the devices. For me personally when I am done testing Traveler (which has been working great) I am going back to my Blackberry, and while I personally don’t use Facebook, for those of you Blackbery users that do, RIM announced a Facebook client for the Blackberry today, which you can download here. With BlackBerry in Crosshairs, Microsoft Debuts Mobile Server

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