Wider Wireless Email Adoption Remain Unconquered, said Strategy Analytics


Security, Total Cost of Ownership & Device Selection Remain Stubborn Barriers


Boston, MA, USA & London, UK -/May 19, 2004 Wi-Fi Technology News/- A new study from Strategy Analytics, "The Battle for Supremacy in Mobile Email, PIM & Groupware," finds that the critical success factors for broad adoption of wireless email, PIM and collaborative 'groupware' remain unconquered. Both corporate and SME decision-makers want highly secure solutions available on multiple terminals at a low cost to implement and support across diverse user groups - a sweetspot the industry has been unable to hit.

"Looking beyond early adopters, Strategy Analytics finds that most companies are not willing to make significant sacrifices to gain wireless access to email," states Cliff Raskind, Director, Wireless Enterprise Strategies. "BlackBerry is clearly the current gold standard as an elegant, secure, behind-the-firewall, push-based solution - but inclusion in the 'crackberry' club carries a steep price. The chasing pack of vendors smells this opportunity and is aggressively snapping at RIM's heels with a wide variety of product and pricing strategies, though none have hit the mark for broad deployment."

David Kerr, Vice President of the Global Wireless Practice at Strategy Analytics, commented, "Email has become as indispensable as the telephone Mobilizing this electronic jack-of-all-trades is a natural a first step towards mainstream adoption of wireless data. However, enterprise grade mobile email remains the preserve of the few, generally high-end users, which Strategy Analytics estimates at less than 5 percent or less of the workforce. Ultimately, the success of players like Good, Smartner, Visto, Extended Systems, SEVEN, Xpherix as well as RIM will be limited without eradicating the stubborn trade-offs that exist between security, cost and range of available devices."

The report notes that neither mobile operators nor the IT big guns have the end-to-end capabilities to address the full spectrum of user needs. In particular, the report notes a significant opportunity for outsourced or managed solutions in the SME space. However, operators lack the IT expertize and experience to meet this need alone while IT big guns typically struggle to reach down to smaller organizations.

For a perceptual map showing the current categories of mobile email solutions and required solution attributes for broader adoption, please see http://www.strategyanalytics.com/press/pr00119.htm

About Strategy Analytics
Strategy Analytics, Inc., a global research and consulting firm, provides timely insights and strategic business solutions to companies operating at the convergence of information, communications and entertainment technologies. With worldwide headquarters in Newton, MA and principal offices in England, France and Germany, Strategy Analytics focuses on market opportunities and challenges in the areas of Automotive Electronics, Broadband, Telematics, Wireless Strategies and Enabling Technologies. For more information, see http://www.strategyanalytics.com

US Contacts:
Cliff Raskind, +1 617 614 0707, craskind@strategyanalytics.com
David Kerr, +1 617 614 0720, dkerr@strategyanalytics.com

European Contact:
Phil Kendall, +44(0) 1908 423 620, pkendall@strategyanalytics.com