Nokia eyes corporate mobility

Network World writes about Nokia's efforts to penetrate the enterprise by announcing "a new version of its device-management software, which lets customers control and provision mobile devices, such as smart-phones and PDAs." The article states "Nokia's goal is to be the linchpin in corporate mobility by offering a variety of products, from handsets to server software that together give mobile workers secure access to enterprise applications."

Nokia's Enterprise Solutions division has been cited by the company as dragging down profits, but its importance was underlined by last year's $430 million acquisition of Intellisync, "a software vendor offering data-synchronization middleware with an application for push e-mail and a suite of device-management applications."

Cliff Raskind at Strategy Analytics said, "This acquisition really expands their role into mobile e-mail, groupware and [personal information management]. And it gives them instant presence with [Code Division Multiple Access] carriers in the United States, where Nokia has had almost no presence."

The Intellisync software is center to "Nokia Business Center, a 2005 package of hardware and software for push e-mail and for mobilizing a range of business applications that was initially targeted as an inexpensive offering for small-to-midsize companies."

Nokia introduced last week "the Open Management Alliance Device Management standard into the Intellisync Device Management suite. The OMA-DM is a set of industry protocols and mechanisms for managing mobile- and wireless-connected devices. The release also will give administrators new controls over what file types and sizes can be downloaded to handhelds." The article looks at the new features and capabilities.