Various mobile solutions have evolved for managing email. The objective of this document is to present the difference between various technologies to help users identify their needs.

• Synchronization
  The process to make data on dissimilar devices to become similar. [more...]
  

  Few facts may be worthy of attention here :
  
  

  • Mail data is much more dynamic. Though it varies in frequency, most mobile users would find their mail data to change much more frequently compared to their other Personal Information Management (PIM) data.
    
    
  • Most corporate environments manage mail on their mail servers, like Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes, which has no limits on the size of the information store. Further more, this information is maintained by system administrators.
    
    
  • Laptop users maintain a local copy of the mail data to access it offline. But they are quite resourceful - like 1 GHz processor with 256 MB RAM and a 20 GB hard drive. They usually connect over a broadband network connection.
    
    
  • Handheld devices have a severe resource and bandwidth limitations. Mobile users usually prefer to access new mail data but may need to access old mail data on demand at any time.
    
    
  • A mobile user may need to download, edit and upload selective business documents that are transmitted as email attachments.
    
    
  • A user operating "out of the office environment" has higher expectations for performance from a handheld device with scanty resources and bandwidth.
    
    

  Summary:

  In an attempt to make disimilar data become similar, synchronization solutions tend to miss their focus on what may be important to a mobile user. All devices are designed for a different purpose and trying to synchronize all or part of mail data implies either an overkill or implicit judgement on behalf of mobile user. If the user has too many mail messages on their mailbox, getting them all or even from last few days to the handheld is not necessarily the best solution. A mobile user may need to access a specific set or type of messages that exists in their mailbox from a few months ago! For example, while in a meeting with a customer. Not getting the attachments is worse but getting all the attachments would be equally devastating!
  
  

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• Two-tiered Solutions
  Enabling the handheld to access mail data directly from the mailbox. [more...]
  

  Few facts here:
  
  

  • Much like any other corporate data, mail data is considered to be a corporate asset and Internet access to it via standards like POP3 and IMAP4 is typically blocked on most corporate firewall.
    
    
  • Compared to desktops, Handheld devices have severe resource and bandwidth limitations. Managing and accessing specific messages with a two tier mail solution may not be an enjoyable experience.
    
    
  • Business documents like Word, Excel, etc. may maintain a different format on a handheld device (even applies to Microsoft Pocket PC). Documents in desktop format demand longer download time on a narrow bandwidth connection as they tend to be much larger in size compared to their handheld counterparts.
    
    
  • Two-tiered solutions typically download and store messages locally. Desktops are capable of holding substantial amount of data. Handheld devices have limited resources and are not designed to store all mail data. Furthermore, many users prefer to maintain all communications for substantial amount of time
    
    
  • A user operating "out of the office environment" has higher expectations for performance from a handheld device with scanty resources and bandwidth as compared to their desktop.
    
    

  Summary:

  Two-tiered solutions provide substantial value operating on desktops which are resourceful and operate on high network bandwidth. Yet, at times, we see an hourglass cursor while the system in scavenging for results! Besides the lack of access across the firewall, Corporate users may find the security for two-tiered data access with handheld devices to be severely limiting.
  
  

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• Browser-Based Solutions
  Solutions that operate over a browser on the handheld device. [more...]
  

  Few facts here:
  
  

  • Browser based solutions only operate when connected to the network. They do not operate when the mobile user has traveled outside the wireless coverage area, such as an airplane or traveled outside the network coverage.
    
    
  • Browser based solutions usually operate on any device with a browser. Most mobile users usually prefer a comprehensive solution for the device they own and use, at all times, reliably and dependably.
    
    
  • Business documents sent as attachments, like Word and Excel, cannot be accessed as easily using the handheld devices as the document format is much different between the handheld devices and the desktop.
    
    
  • Corporate environments using Microsoft Exchange have the option of using Outlook Web Access solution. On the desktop, the browser also offers greater richness due to presence of components like ActiveX and more. Yet, more users prefer to use Microsoft Outlook with native data access as compared to browser based Outlook Web Access.
    
    
  • A user operating "out of the office environment" has higher expectations for performance from a handheld device with scanty resources and bandwidth.
    
    

  Summary:

  Browser based solutions are typically more valuable on devices that only have micro-browser and lack additional progammability. Almost all cell phones today have a micro-browser, often referred to as WAP (Wireless Access Protocol) enabled phones. More cell phones prevail (compared to PDA's) yet the use of cell phones for data management has been very limited. Compared to PDA's, cell phones with browsers lack usability for email management. Given a choice, more users prefer native software solutions over browser based solutions.
  
  

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• Multi-tier Native Access
  Operate on a distributed computing environment with a native interface. [more...]
  

  Few facts here:
  
  

  • By distributing computing requirements, the overall performance is optimized for data on handheld device that has limited computing and network resources (compared to the desktop)
    
    
  • Native interface provides ease of use with reliability and dependability at all times regardless of network coverage.
    
    
  • Only Corsoft Aileron provides complete access to mobile users' personal and corporate mail data, including attachments.
    
    
  • Only Corsoft Aileron provides the ability to download, view, edit and send business documents sent as email attachments from the handheld devices. We are intrigued why others do not address this important requirement.
    
    
  • Only Corsoft Aileron provides complete mail management capability, including attachments, from anywhere, using a Wireless or Wire line connection.
    
    
  • Only Corsoft Aileron provides the ability to manage mail using a conduit that operates with Palm HotSync Manager. This can be used with ANY Internet aware PC desktop and is NOT confined to users desktop.
    
    

  Summary:

  Corsoft Aileron provides a comprehensive business quality messaging solution that interfaces with your mail store securely from anywhere, regardless of the network used. It is the one single solution that enables users to manage their personal and corporate mail, with attachments. It empowers users to manage all of their data communication without carrying their laptop.
  
  

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