Systems integrators in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), are now offering services to make handheld devices running Microsoft Corp. software an integrated part of a company’s IT infrastructure, Microsoft said Tuesday.
The system integrators can help companies extend enterprise applications such as customer relationship management and sales force automation to mobile devices running Microsoft software. Mobile workers can access the applications via handheld devices such as the Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) iPaq Pocket PC, according to Microsoft in a statement released at its IT Forum 2002 event in Copenhagen.
The Mobile Workplace offering takes into account issues such as manageability, security, deployment, and device type. System integrators offer a single interface to multi-vendor products and pass along volume discounts on devices to the customer for reduced cost, Microsoft said.
The Redmond, Washington, software vendor also said it added seven regional European partners for its Mobile Workplace offering, which was first announced in July. Existing global partners are Accenture Ltd., Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, and HP, Microsoft said.
Additionally, Microsoft announced corporate applications for the recently announced mobile phone based on its Windows Powered Smartphone 2002 software.
One Microsoft partner developed a gateway to business software from Navision, part of Microsoft Business Solutions ApS. Other tools developed for the phone platform include a mobile intranet client, Microsoft said.
