A number of players in the handheld computing space have recognized the need to link handhelds to enterprise systems. They are now emerging with systems to fulfill it. They all share a common architecture illustrated earlier in figures 3 and 4. A number of vendors also include an IT management application to manage application distribution and versioning from the central server. Each of these vendors will now be discussed in detail.

AvantGo

AvantGo entered the marketplace initially as an offline web browser for the Palm platform. Aiming at the large installed base of consumer users, AvantGo provided a methodology where web content is automatically downloaded to the Palm during a hotsync, and then can be browsed afterwards using a standard web interface. This was successful since it was able to provide the average consumer user a method to get web pages on their palmtop with no expensive networking equipment.

Much effort is currently being focused on this consumer strategy and AvantGo offers a website where the user can choose from hundreds of channels of data to be downloaded to his Palm at the next HotSync. Channels are typically derived from existing web content such as the NY Times or The Weather Channel. Data can also be transferred bidirectionally. To get a stock quote, for example, the stock symbol is entered in the device when not connected, and at the next HotSync, the symbol is sent up to the AvantGo server and the appropriate data is sent down to the Palm. It is necessary that the PC is on a LAN or dialup connection that has access to the public internet. The browser and content management is currently offered free of charge.

AvantGo is now trying to leverage its technology into the enterprise space. It is marketing a server that lets corporations provide channels to its employees and partners. The server is best suited to transfer web content, but has APIs so that databases or other applications can be accessed from the backend. Security is available as 128 or 56 bit SSL. AvantGo also offers central IT management capabilities from its server. Clients are available for both Windows CE and Palm OS so that the same server can handle a variety of client platforms.

AvantGo has been a technological and commercial leader in this space. Their early success was due to the ability to provide usable web content-the de facto data standard-to the large installed base of Palm users who had no network access directly from their handheld device. They not only deployed one of the first web browsers, but also the ability to download and use the web data in a useful manner. They are now spinning off their communication protocol, MAL [Mobile Application Link], to a separate organization in the hope of its adoption as an industry standard.

MAL

Mobile Application Link was spun off from technology developed at AvantGo. The Mobile Application Link Forum is presently composed of an industry affiliation of Puma, Aether Systems, Attachmate, AvantGo, Certicom, Globalware, ePocrates, and the Windward Group. Following the open source model, all source code for MAL is published on the MAL website.

Until now, every company wishing to provide a method for linking the Palm with a centralized database had to develop their own protocol. Clearly, there is a need for an industry standard so that different solutions may successfully inter-operate. By taking the step of freely publishing the MAL source code, there is a good chance that it could be come the standard. For anyone developing a system from scratch, it will be much easier to take advantage of this existing code base than to invent yet another protocol.

MAL rides on top of HTTP. This is a good choice since any network that can carry web content can carry MAL content with no modification. For example, corporate users that need to access an external MAL server from behind their firewall can go through an existing web proxy with no modifications.

The MAL protocol is designed to be non-OS specific and has clients for both Windows CE and Palm OS. The protocol works by providing a set of commands to exchange individual database records between the server and the handheld. When first connecting to the server, the server tells the handheld which databases to send records from and under what conditions: when a record is modified, when it is deleted, when it is added, or to always send a record.

Note that this architecture, if not well understood, could present a gaping security hole. Every server that a MAL client connects to must be completely trusted. This is because the server in the first configuration session has the ability to request any information it wants from the Palm. A hostile server, masquerading as a server providing some type of content that is useful, could send the command to download all records from the datebook and contact list. On the next sync with that server all personal data is uploaded to the server.

MAL currently handles this problem by informing the user when a new server is added that the server must be trusted. Security provisions exist for a name and password-either clear text or hashed with a nonce delivered from the server in the previous transaction. Both 56 and 128 bit SSL security is also available.

Clearly the market needs a standard and MAL, by virtue of its open source doctrine, has the potential to become that standard.

Puma

Puma Technologies comes at the enterprise space from the technological strength of its Intellisync line of products. Intellisync is the industry leader in providing connectivity from the palmtop to other desktop databases including Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, and Symantec Act. This data interchange and mapping technology has been a critical technology in easing the deployment of the Palm and other handheld devices since the user can continue to use his favorite suite of applications on the desktop while still taking full advantage of the Palm functionality.

Adapting this technology to the server arena, Intellisync Anywhere puts these conduits into its enterprise server. Intellisync Anywhere comes in versions for Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes. Palm users can sync to the enterprise server directly from the Palm using a LAN HotSync cradle or through a standard PC desktop. Since the product already interfaces to two popular enterprise applications the customization required by many of their competitors is unnecessary.

Puma recently added a web browser and advanced server architecture to its armament of technologies by acquiring ProxiNet. ProxiNet was spun off from a University of California research project using clusters of workstations as proxies for handheld computing browsers. By combining the web browser, parallel computing server architecture, MAL transport protocol, and technology for exchanging data with other applications Puma could become the master of the enterprise synchronization technology arena.

Another asset of Puma's is the Satellite Forms product, a software development tool to quickly develop form based applications. They recently announced Intellisync.com, a website designed to hold and coordinate data synchronized from a range of handheld devices. Based on their binge of corporate acquisitions, Puma is in a strong position to make this goal.

Riverbed Technologies

Riverbed Technologies has a family of four products for handheld enterprise computing: ScoutArchitect, ScoutWeb, ScoutIT, and ScoutSync. Of these, ScoutSync is their most mature product. ScoutSync consists again of four components: ScoutSync Client, Scout Server, ScoutSync Service, and ScoutSync Conduits. The architecture maps to the generic Palm syncing architecture described in figure 3 where the Scout Sync Client runs on the Palm, the server on the synchronization server, and the conduit communicates with the legacy back end.

The Scout Server functionality is very similar to AvantGo's Enterprise server architecture-the main difference being that Riverbed started with the enterprise server strategy early on while AvantGo focused on the web and consumer end. This early start has gotten Riverbed Technologies some key relationships. In particular, they have announced a partnership with Palm in which their technology will be used in Palm's HotSync Server which will be available in Q1 2000. They have also licensed their technology to OmniSky-the joint venture of Palm and Aether to develop wireless access for the Palm.

The Scout Server has a complete API available for evaluation. The technology is implemented using COM technology which is important for Enterprise developers since it allows modularity and future expandability. Separate COM objects, for example, are provided for Windows CE and Palm devices so that the same server can easily support multiple handhelds. There are no published documents describing the details of the communication protocol with is based on TCP/IP.

Their other three products complement their server for enterprise development. ScoutArchitect is a tool to rapidly develop client applications for Palm or Windows CE devices. ScoutWeb is a translation engine that allows translation of existing HTML content to a format suitable for ScoutSync based on a set of predefined rules. This corresponds to the HTML optimized synchronization server in figure 4. Finally, Scout IT allows IT managers to manage handheld devices, both Windows CE and Palm, remotely from a server. None of these three products are currently available for trial from the website.

Aether Technologies

Whereas the previously described technologies approach the problem of synchronizing enterprise data assuming existing technologies of TCP/IP over LANs, Aether has focused on wireless networks. Because wireless networks have different properties from LANs, they are usually based on message-based protocols such as UDP rather than connection oriented protocols such as TCP.

Aether offers a high-level API so that application developers do not have to worry about the implementation details of the underlying network. This technology is called Aether Intelligent Messaging, or AIM. AIM handles the details of retry management, message segmentation and reassembly, connection management, data compression, and security. Aether seems to have paid particular attention to security since their early applications have been focused in the financial sector. Their technology is used in wireless trading applications for Reuters MarketClip, and TradeRunner from Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. They have also announced a development effort with Charles Schwab. Their system uses 256-bit ECC technology from Certicom and provides encryption, authentication, and non-repudiation.

Their initial implementations were centered around Palm III devices with Minstrel modems, but they now support a range of handheld platforms including Windows CE devices, pagers, and EPOC devices.

Aether has entered into a joint venture with 3Com in OmniSky technologies which aims to provide wireless network access to Palms. Unlike the Palm VII, OmniSky aims to provide unlimited access for a flat monthly fee and will likely have higher bandwidth than the Palm VII's BellSouth Wireless Pager network.

JP Systems

JP Systems got their start by interfacing a two way pager to a palm device using the devices' built in IR ports. This was a huge win for the consumer space since a palm user could now get email and other time sensitive information using a low-cost pager.

This initial system has been diversified into four consumer products: One-Touch Mail, BeamLink, infoBeam, and OneTouch Messaging Platform. All are variations on the same theme of providing email or other content to handhelds through pagers or other wireless networks. One-Touch Mail works through a minstrel or other modem. BeamLink and InfoBeam offer generic messaging and service components for communication over a two-way pager, and One Touch Messaging Platform is the SDK that allows integration of the technology into custom applications.

Their new push is into the enterprise space with InfoBeam Enterprise Client and InfoBeam Enterprise Server. The Server looks similar to the server in figure 3 with a backend connection to ODBC, email, or ERP. The Client runs on a Palm computing platform, Win CE device, or smart pager. Although there is not much published information on these products, it is likely an extension of their core technological strength of moving data to the Palm using industry-standard two-way pagers.

Globalware Computing

The makers of the Pylon Conduit, PylonPro, and Pylon ServerSync have a clear technological strength in connectivity to Lotus Notes. The Pylon conduit is the flagship product which offers individual users synchronization of the built-in Palm PIM applications to their existing Notes data.

In the enterprise space, PylonPro is a very clever next step that allows simple transformation of existing Notes databases into Palm handheld applications. Simply select a database, form, and view from a Notes installation and hotsync. A Palm OS version complete with matching user interface is created on the Palm device without the need for programming.

Pylon ServerSync is a Domino server-side component that is implemented as a Domino add-in task that allows users to distribute custom Notes databases to multiple Palm users. Pylon ServerSync leverages Domino's existing directory and security model so that the need for development of new procedures for handhelds is minimized. It can be administered from Notes, a web browser, or the Palm device.

These applications provide powerful functionality for Lotus Notes users. By integrating and extending existing Notes paradigms, complex functionality can be achieved without having to develop from ground zero. Indeed, the idea of integrating into Domino Server means that many of the fundamental server functions needed for the server in figure 3 don't have to be reinvented. Instead the effort Lotus has put into the development of their server is leveraged as mature server technology. At the same time, this is also their chief disadvantage in that the solution is so closely tied to a single server technology. For an existing Notes shop, Globalware Computing is clearly the best option, but for solutions that have the flexibility to design from the ground up, the many other options are worth considering.

Databases

The large database companies are also getting into the act. Both Oracle and Sybase have announced versions of their databases for the Palm, Windows, and Windows CE. Oracle's is called Oracle Lite and is a scaled down kernel of the regular Oracle database. Its companion product, iConnect, provides synchronization between Oracle Lite and Oracle and offers four modes for database replication. Oracle has also announced a product called Portal-to-Go for providing web content to handheld devices without the need to rewrite standard web content. This is simply Oracle's version of the server in figure 4 optimized for HTML. Oracle Lite is designed to easily interoperate with Satellite Forms so that enterprise applications can be developed quickly and with minimal effort.

Sybase also has a version of their database for the Palm called UltraLite Sybase SQL Anywhere Studio. Like Oracle, it has a kernel that runs on the Palm and also an interface to a forms-style development environment. With this technology, the same code base can be used to deploy applications for Palm Pilot, Windows, and Windows CE devices. The UltraLite kernel has been optimized for small devices and according to Sybase can have a "fingerprint" as small as 50K. MobiLink provides Sybase's version of synchronization technology between the palmtop and backend database.

While these applications give IT managers a secure feeling since they can develop with the same interface and Enterprise database they have learned to know and love, they are not heavily optimized for the Palm. The need to support multiple platforms has resulted in applications that are probably not as optimized as they could be if specifically targeted for the Palm platform. Although because of their large enterprise installed base, these products will probably become formidable challengers in the field.

Software Development Tools

Typical enterprise applications require a custom application on the palmtop. C and C++ implementations are done using Metrowerks CodeWarrior or Gnu GCC software development tools. Code is compiled on a Mac, Windows, or Unix machine and downloaded to the handheld. This approach gives the most control over the application. Interfaces and functionality can be fine tuned to provide any desired outcome. However, this approach also requires the most development time. Between the two, CodeWarrior is probably the more popular tool since it is a commercial tool with accompanying support. GCC is freeware distributed under the Gnu license, yet is still a very high quality product. In fact, many programmers prefer the Gnu tools.

For rapid application prototyping and development, there are several form-based development tools available. Puma's Satellite Forms and Pendragon Forms are the two most popular. Both of these tools accelerate the development process by simplifying the need for low-level GUI management routines. Pendragon forms includes support for Access 2000 and ODBC and costs $149. Satellite Forms Enterprise Edition costs $795 and also requires a runtime license fee for every Palm client running the application.

System Integration

The handheld device today is where the desktop PC was in the early 80s. It has proven its mettle as a standalone computing device. Now, by connecting it to the network, the handheld will achieve the power of a truly connected information architecture. With 340MB of hard drive capacity, a color monitor, and 128MB of solid state memory, there is no limit to what will be possible with this handheld computer.

All that is required now is bringing these pieces together into a complete system. By first analyzing the business needs and requirements of the implementation, the proper selection of components will become apparent. Whether developing a web-centric interface, a custom wireless real-time control application, or an Oracle Lite forms implementation, the same architectural strategies presented here will apply. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and make the future happen today. -Daniel Zucker, Ph.D., with Shawn Barnett

Go to part 4 of 4: Success Stories