CNET article on MSFT/Wireless Knowledge
news.com
Server software key to
Microsoft wireless plans
By Corey Grice
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
March 22, 1999, 4:00 a.m. PT
Is the wireless world ready for Redmond?
WirelessKnowledge, the wireless communications joint
venture between Microsoft and Qualcomm, isn't promising
the Internet unplugged just yet, but the company is easing
into the market by ensuring that business customers don't
stray far from Microsoft's products.
Because there's currently little demand for data
transmitted by wireless devices, WirelessKnowledge is
focusing on the tools business customers use most
frequently: email, calendars, shared databases, and
"to-do" lists, according to company executives. Its first
service offering--called Revolv--primarily touts Microsoft's
Exchange-based groupware products, which many
customers already access using the Outlook client
application on their desktop PCs.
In other words, WirelessKnowledge seeks to deliver the
software giant's products to business customers using
Qualcomm-powered devices. The alliance, formed last
November, is another example of Microsoft's expanding
focus on bandwidth, and could offer the company another
proving ground to show that its software is capable of
handling high-end, heavy-volume business applications.
Although the wireless communications industry is touting
the virtues of surfing the Internet at high-speeds,
transferring files, and eventually video-conferencing without
wires, the standards necessary for T1-like speeds are still
years away, according to some.
Most current hand-held wireless technologies struggle to
deliver data even at speeds of 28.8 kbps (kilobits per
second). "Third-generation" standards capable of delivering
data at more than 1 mbps (megabits per second) are
expected in 2000 or 2001, but until then speed bumps will
limit the kinds of services carriers can deliver.
"It takes very little bandwidth to tell you your meeting has
changed," said WirelessKnowledge chief executive John
Major at a recent industry conference.
WirelessKnowledge vows to support many different
technologies in the future. But the venture may have other
goals. Microsoft has had trouble penetrating the lucrative
telecommunications industry, long dominated by
Unix-based operating systems. Now the company hopes it
can use the base of customers it already has for its
Exchange server to its advantage in its first attempt at
entering with wireless communications world.
"All their big new initiatives are server-based," said Pete
Peterson, a wireless analyst at Volpe Brown Whelan.
"They need the end users to have services and reasons
that make them want to access a Microsoft server."
And at the root of Microsoft's Exchange push is an
underlying effort to boost its corporate Windows NT
operating system--to be called Windows 2000 in an
upcoming upgrade.
A go between
WirelessKnowledge will act as a middleman between
wireless carriers and customers' mobile devices, be they
smart phones, handheld computers, two-way pagers or
anything else.
The promise of WirelessKnowledge is that
customers--regardless of what type of mobile device or
which wireless carrier they use--can receive their corporate
information remotely. The carrier partners--including
AirTouch Communications, AT&T Wireless Services, Bell
Atlantic Mobile, Bell Mobility, BellSouth, GTE Wireless,
Sprint PCS, and US West Wireless--will market and sell
the co-branded WirelessKnowledge service.
WirelessKnowledge will customize data to ensure that the
information is formatted appropriately for each device. For
example, on a two-way pager, emails might only show the
subject heading. However, on a personal digital assistant
(PDA) such as a Windows CE-based device or a
PalmPilot, which have larger viewable screens, the full
email may be read. The same is true for phones and
pagers.
The company is in the process of integrating its
carrier partners'
networks with a
network operating
center based in San
Diego, California,
where
WirelessKnowledge is
headquartered. The
networks are typically
connected via frame
relay networking
technology.
"Carriers like it
because this shifts
the focus from
minutes to what can
be done with the phone," according to Major.
Under an ambitious schedule, the first commercial
launches of the Revolv service offering were
expected in some areas by April, but that date has
been delayed until May, according to Tom
Clarkson, vice president of marketing for
WirelessKnowledge.
Other companies are working on similar wireless
data efforts. WirelessKnowledge executives know
any lead they may have could be fleeting, but they
believe their service will be too easy to pass up.
"You can wait for your business to develop this
information on its own, or you can wait until your
carrier develops it," Major said. "What we have
done is provide an integrated solution for the user."
Giants Cisco Systems and Motorola also are
working together to build the infrastructure
necessary for high-speed wireless networks. But
analysts say the clout of Microsoft carries a lot of
cachet, and is likely to bring many developers on
board.
"This is not new, but the sizzle of Microsoft makes
a difference," said Alan Reiter, president of
Wireless Internet & Mobile Computing, a wireless
data consulting firm. "This isn't rocket science, but
you want to get your email and files wirelessly. Is
that so hard? Well, yeah, it has been."
Selling more software
The venture is betting that corporate America is
ready to take its information on the road, and that
the software giant's ubiquitous products will give
many companies a reason to use
WirelessKnowledge.
"The industry was headed down a path where there
really weren't compelling applications, and what
always drives a market is compelling applications
that end-users want to buy," Clarkson said.
Microsoft is extending its Windows franchise to the
handheld market via its Windows CE operating
system and Qualcomm also is putting Microsoft's
microbrowser technology into its cellular phones.
The larger plan, according to analysts, is to get
businesses to use Microsoft servers. And, if those
corporate customers use WirelessKnowledge for
wireless connectivity, they'll want to use Windows
CE for seamless integration.
"You'll be 'incented' to use Microsoft products
across the board because the integration will be
easier," Volpe's Peterson said.
Connecting corporate networks to the
WirelessKnowledge network allows people to
access their business applications while away on
travel, and by focusing on the business customer,
the venture can glean higher profit margins.
"Microsoft needs this to be in the enterprise,"
Peterson said. "Traditionally they've played on the
desktop, but the desktop is being stripped down."
There is some skepticism in the industry, however,
that WirelessKnowledge may not integrate its
service with most wireless communications
standards.
"There's a concern that they'll give preference to
CDMA (code division multiple access) carriers
because Qualcomm is the king of CDMA," Reiter
said.
But WirelessKnowledge executives said they're
willing to support a number of technologies and
competing products.
"There's a lot of speculation that if you've got
Microsoft and Qualcomm involved, two very
aggressive companies, that you're just going to
strictly support their products. That's not the case,"
Clarkson said.
Related news stories
• When will data change the wireless world?
February 10, 1999
• Short Take: Wireless Knowledge to add voice
capabilities February 8, 1999
• Wireless market bracing for boom January 26,
1999
• Short Take: WirelessKnowledge rolls out first
service offering January 19, 1999
• Microsoft jumps into wireless world November 13,
1998
• Microsoft, Qualcomm form new firm November 10,
1998
• Microsoft, Qualcomm to form company November
4, 1998
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