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Just a few weeks into its release, the Palm Pre has already established itself as a strong alternative to the industry leading Blackberry and iPhone devices. Staking the claim on the middle ground between its competitors, the Palm has taken a best of both worlds approach, with a touch screen interface and a slide out hardware keyboard. Hidden under crowd pleasing features like multitasking, GPS, and video camera is a secret business weapon- built in ActiveSync support.
Apple resisted ActiveSync support until version 2.0 of the iPhone OS, and it cost them in the business place. Palm hasn’t repeated that mistake, and has made sure that the Pre can easily integrate with Exchange for fast adoption in the enterprise. Users don’t just have interactive on the go access to e-mail, contacts, and calendar information; they also have powerful search and organization tools that only a centralized mail solution can deliver.
As useful as ActiveSync with managed Hosted Exchange is for end users, it’s even more popular with IT professionals. Administration is easy and efficient, backups are automatic, and spam protection and security is rock solid with Exchange. Hosted Exchange is a cost effective solution for centralized communications, and the upcoming Exchange 2010 promises to add even more value with features like unified voice and e-mail boxes.
The Palm Pre is poised to take advantage of a gap in the current smart phone marketplace. The iPhone has a reputation as a consumer device versus a business hand held, a perception solidified by hip, youth oriented marketing. The Blackberry has had a dominant grasp on the business arena, but the Blackberry technology that won those early battles is dated. Blackberry maker RIM badly miscalculated with the Storm, abandoning the fans of a physical keyboard for touch screen users and pleasing neither with a phone that even the RIM CEO admitted wasn’t ready for prime time.
Palm is in a strong position to exploit that misstep. While it has consumer appeal, the Pre is targeting enterprise users. Bluetooth support is robust, with multiple profiles for a variety of devices, and secure wireless connectivity supports multiple authentication schemes. The Pre is currently exclusive to the Sprint network, although with broader 3G coverage than ATT and T-Mobile, that’s not necessarily a problem.
Thanks to built in support for ActiveSync and Exchange server, the Palm Pre is worth consideration for business who already have a managed Exchange solution, or for those who are considering it. With both consumer appeal and business capabilities, the Exchange/Pre combo gives your employees fast, efficient, anywhere business communications in, if you’ll pardon the pun, the Palm of their hands. The Pre has a unique opportunity to claim the top spot as the choice of business professionals, and early adopters stand to benefit as smart phone based Exchange communications become standard operating procedure.
