Nokia today gave an update on the deployment of Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync for Nokia smartphones that shows it is gaining substantial traction among the world’s biggest operators and enterprises.
The solution – which delivers direct, secure access to email and personal information via organizations’ Microsoft Exchange servers – is now available for Nokia smartphones on more than 550 operator networks worldwide. These operators include America Movil, Orange, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, TeliaSonera, T-Mobile and Vodafone. And recently, the solution has undergone large-scale deployment at leading enterprises such as JCDecaux and OnMobile, which have been attracted to its dramatically improved efficiency and significantly lower cost compared to rival solutions.
Through joint activities targeted at enterprises, Nokia and operators are bringing operational efficiencies and substantial savings in total cost of ownership (TCO) for IT decision makers, when compared to other solutions.
At JCDecaux, Europe’s largest outdoor advertising company, just 14 percent of its mobile users in the UK had access to mobile email and calendar functions. The company was looking to extend that functionality to more of its workforce, in a way that was cheaper than the existing solution and without issues such as managing additional servers. JCDecaux chose Nokia’s solution, which – in combination with attractive data tariffs from Vodafone Global Enterprise – led to a reduction in TCO, increased the company’s responsiveness to customers and raised mobile email access for company mobile users to 100 percent.
OnMobile, India’s largest white label data and value-added services company for mobile, landline and media service providers, was able to speed up processes, cut response time and save money by introducing Nokia’s solution. Also, given that part of its workforce was already using Nokia smartphones, it was easy to set up Mail for Exchange without extra cost. In addition, monthly mobile data charges were substantially lower for the Nokia solution, and this encouraged users of a rival solution to switch. In the six months following the deployment, OnMobile reported substantial time savings for engineers, a 20 percent increase in projects completed on time and a 30 percent decrease in travel expenses.
“IT directors are being pressured to deploy business mobility solutions such as email, IM and intranet access for more employees, but without the high costs they have had to spend on additional middleware, licenses and maintenance,” said Ilari Nurmi, the head of marketing for Nokia’s portfolio of Eseries business smartphones.
The solution enables employees to connect directly to the corporate mail server with their Nokia smartphone without the need for additional servers, and is fast becoming the solution of choice for businesses. In addition to accessing email, employees also enjoy direct access to corporate instant messaging through Microsoft® Communicator Mobile, which was the first new application to be delivered by the two companies as part of their strategic alliance announced last year.
“Nokia is doing more than any other handset company to help businesses go mobile. Microsoft will design and develop mobile productivity, communication and collaboration solutions, and we will jointly bring them to market – giving our smartphones the edge over the competition,” Nurmi continued.
The Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync solution is supported by a wide range of Nokia smartphones available with different designs and prices, covering the entire business user market. In the first half of 2010, more than 12 million Nokia Eseries business smartphones were shipped, representing a growth of more than 50 percent compared to the first half of 2009. Nokia’s line-up of business smartphones is to be strengthened by the arrival of the Nokia E7, equipped with a full keyboard and 4-inch touchscreen featuring Nokia ClearBlack technology for improved outdoor visibility.
In addition to access to corporate email and infrastructure, Nokia smartphone users also enjoy access to maps, navigation, download apps and access other services through Ovi. The popularity of Business category apps in the Ovi Store, such as Worldmate, F-Secure Anti-Theft for Mobile, Boingo and Bloomberg, has significantly increased with some of the top downloading countries including France, Germany, India, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the UK.