One of the most common question I get asked by my customers and prospects is regarding mobile devices. Most of my small business clients are using an e-mail platform called Microsoft Exchange, which has a huge market share and an enormous amount of benefits for businesses of all sizes. If you do not run Microsoft Exchange, please see my next post which will be regarding the advantages of using MS Exchange versus other options. For those that are using exchange, choosing your mobile device is all but a no-brainer.

MS Exchange has built in technology called Active Sync. Active Sync is software that enables all MS mobile devices to seamlessly and securely interact with an exchange server. This immediately narrows down the options for mobile devices to those that run on Windows Mobile. The following link is a good resource to check out the latest Windows mobile phones; however, I find it easiest to simply visit your wireless service provider and ask them to show you the latest Windows Mobile devices. My favorite is the BlackJack by Samsung.

If a user must have a BlackBerry or Goodlink device, that’s OK; but the user should understand the real cost of this luxury. To implement either of these two devices properly requires a separate physical server, an additional Windows Server license, and special expense software from the vendor. By the time you add services to get it set up, it would not be unrealistic to count on a $10,000 investment to get in functional. That’s just the beginning. The ongoing support costs also pile up. At Endsight, we estimate that it costs a small business $2400/year to manage that additional server.

Regardless of what technology you decide on, it is important to standardize across your entire company. If you go BlackBerry than EVERYONE uses BlackBerry….if you decide on Windows Mobile as suggested than all mobile users standardize on Windows Mobile.

Related Article - Microsoft unveils enhancements to Windows Mobile

Tags: Active Synch, BlackBerry, Goodlink, MS Exchange, Standardize, Windows Mobile

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 17th, 2008 at 2:36 am and is filed under Hardware.
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