Microsoft has announced the local availability of its Mobile Information Server (MIS), following the launch of the product at Microsoft Tech Ed in the US last week.
MIS extends e-mail and other corporate applications from the office to the mobile user through Wireless Application Protocol and HTTP-enabled wireless devices. Available in an enterprise (EE) or carrier (CE) flavour, the carrier edition is already under evaluation by the three local cellular operators.
The carrier solution offers SSL (secure socket layer) security for transactional mobile applications, which means that cellular service providers will be able to run e-commerce and transactional applications securely on their networks. They will also be able to offer services like e-mail access to their users.
The enterprise edition, designed for deployment at corporate level, allows users to retrieve and send e-mails, check contacts, and be alerted of tasks and events from Exchange environments.
MIS EE ships with two applications, Outlook Mobile Access (OMA) and Microsoft Outlook Mobile Manager. Licensing costs $15 per seat, or $75 per seat with OMA, which allows for integration into the Exchange server, and includes the cost of the Exchange CAL licence.
"About 45% of all corporates in SA have indicated an interest in mobile technology," says Desmond Nair, product marketing manager, Microsoft South Africa. "MIS allows you to have more than just Web services - you can extend those services to mobile devices."
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