March 19, 2010

 

There is a growing gap between what business technologists want from Windows Phone 7 and what Microsoft may actually deliver.

 

Microsoft, before and during its Mix developer conference this week, stuck tightly to its pro-consumer message for the Windows Phone 7 operating system. The company's actions and statements since the initial platform announcement last month indicate that Redmond is trying to copy what worked for the Apple iPhone by building a user interface so nice that people want to bring into into the workplace.  But in that regard the software giant may be going too far, as first-generation devices will lack cut-and-paste -- a feature so common that even Apple was roundly criticized for omitting it.

 

What was revealed this week, to little surprise, focused on the tools used to create Windows Phone 7 software. The packages available now as free previews include Silverlight for Windows Phone, Visual Studio 2010 Express, and Windows Phone Emulator. Indications are that information about how to deploy and manage enterprise software may finally arrive at the TechEd conference in June.

 

Microsoft representatives, in a statement to Mobile Enterprise, asserted that "Business organizations are delighted with the changes we're making with Windows Phone 7 Series," that only a "small portion" of business customers need to have tightly managed devices, and that such customers can stick with Windows Mobile 6.x products. Microsoft's statement also seems to back off earlier promises that Windows Phone 7 will work with the System Center product -- "Microsoft is actively investigating alternative solutions to deploy and manage customized business applications on Windows Phone 7 Series phones in the future," representatives said.

 

That isn't stopping business customers from asking tough questions. Microsoft's own user forum at channel9.msdn.com/forums/Coffeehouse/ is packed this week with worried customers, who are noting that the platform does not allow external memory cards, doesn't give access to a traditional file system, and has no support for local SQL CE databases. Without those three features, business applicaitons will need to be very cloud-dependent, which spells trouble when downtime hits.

 

In a Coffeehouse thread this week, titled "Should enterprise devs stick to WindowsMobile6 for now," veteran member Dave Kersnowski noted, "It's a fatal flaw. I think there are many exciting and useful apps for the device that will not be written if anything more than trivial amounts of data need to come from a server. and not just enterprise apps. It hamstrings the platform in the middle of a mobile revolution. This will force app writers who need this functionality to move to other platforms that provide local database access including the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. I hope Microsoft remedies this quickly."

 

Another member, going only by "DaveWill," wrote, "We are waiting for Microsoft's plan as well. WinPhone7 is definitely not a business fit for our customers yet we have not heard what the plan is for WinMobile. To date we have treated the WinPhone7 as a fork and patiently wait to hear the news regarding the other prong."

 

In another strange move, Microsoft this week opted to tell a consumer-centric site, Engadget, that there will be an unspecified way for enterprises to deploy applications without using the Windows Phone Marketplace. Another popular mainstream outlet, Arstechnica, reported that Microsoft isn't likely to offer any way for businesses to disable camera functions or to enable remote locking-and-wiping functions.