In handhelds and wireless MSFT does not control the market. They have Windows CE (coming in a fairly distant second) and I'd have to check on Windows ME in this context. Right now, I don't read yesterday's announcement as extending to wireless applications, although I suppose it could.
IDX is in much better shape in wireless because of its looming edge in reader technology and its alliance with Motorola. MOT appears to be more deeply involved in wireless platform development than MSFT, and the other wireless players do not seem at all eager for MSFT to replay its desktop O/S role in their domain.
Although IDX could face price competition on readers in a MSFT/SecureSuite environment, I think barriers to entry in wireless are much higher -- cheap readers are not going to be easy to come by in the thin sizes that cell phones require. That will give IDX much more leverage on the software side, since Identix will be needed to get the hardware market going.
As to Hal's question, I think an overnight incorporation of SecureSuite by MSFT was described in my 'nightmare scenario' post. The fact that it will be sometime in the next few years makes the problem much less serious, in my opinion, because I don't believe the market will freeze for that length of time.
As to BAPI, even if IDX is not instantly BAPI-compliant, as I have heard, it can be BAPI-compliant fairly quickly. This should goose the immediate demand for DFR-300s/BioLogon, because it will easy integration costs for Windows platforms. The more BioLogon installations by IDX, the harder it will be for MSFT to get SecureSuite acceptance by existing users. |
