remote access to corporate email is minimal due to the fact that so few people are able to access their emails remotely, due to the corp firewall (not because people have limited interest) and can only do this through the use of a Blackberry device...
Now that's where you're wrong. There are several options for secure remote access to corporate e-mail. Far and away the most widely used option is a VPN. All you need on your remote device or remote PC is VPN client software. On the corporate network side, you need a VPN gateway of some sort. The VPN gateway functionaly can reside within the router to the network, within a firewall, or as a stand-alone box. VPN use is absolutely exploding now, and will continue to explode. biz.yahoo.com
And the Blackberry isn't the only mobile solution for secure corporate e-mail access either. VPN clients have just recently become available for PDAs, and offer a standards-based alternative for accessing the corporate network. (It's pull technology though, and that sucks.)
In addtion, services such as Omnisky offer secure redirectors for getting your corporate mail to your device: omnisky.com And Motorola is supposed to have their MyMail service available this quarter also, but I haven't dug into the implementation of it yet. commerce.motorola.com I definitely don't like flip-top concept though. I'd break that in no time.
What Omnisky doesn't offer is the Enterprise Server that Blackberry does,and this is key for corporate use. With Omnisky (as with Blackberry if you don't have the Enterprise Server), you must have a desktop at your office powered-on at all times with Outlook up and running in order for your messages to forward. This means if someone uses a laptop as their primary PC, they need to get another desktop PC to act as their e-mail host. (Any old crappy PC will do.) This is obviously inconvenient, and once you get more and more people using the Blackberries, forking over the $3000 for the Enterprise Server software is a no-brainer. It handles the redirection as opposed to the desktop, and can be maintained by the IT staff. It's an all-round better solution, and also now enables wireless calendar access which is a nice feature. You would be automatically and immediately be notified when someone has scheduled a meeting or something for you.
Bottom line, with its push technology, small form factor (fits in a pocket and no antenna), and inherent security, the Blackberry is still best solution for corporate e-mail access IMO. |
