IBM and Nokia are collaborating to make it easier for business professionals in the region to 'go mobile' while staying fully integrated with their organisation's messaging platform.

This joint initiative will see both companies working with their respective channel partners to bring to market a combination of solutions and services that make it easier for businesses to select and setup a mobile enterprise solution, using IBM's latest software and Nokia Intellisync Mobile Suite.

"The Middle East business environment is becoming increasingly mobile, more and more companies are demanding flexibility in their workspace in order to enhance their competitive edge," said head of IBM Software Group, Middle East, Egypt and Pakistan, Bashar Kilani.

"We are glad to be working closely with Nokia to provide this region with a collaborative solution that will significantly boost the potential for businesses to achieve new levels of productivity on the go while reducing costs," he added.

The combined Lotus Notes/ Nokia Intellisync solution allows users of business devices such as Nokia E90 Communicator, Nokia E61i or Nokia E51 to access corporate networks simply, effectively and securely, allowing information access, retrieval and updates regardless of the user's location, as long as there is a valid mobile or wireless network access point available.

Nokia Intellisync Mobile Suite synchronises with the Lotus Domino R6.5, R7 groupware server to give users a familiar interface with the highest degree of functionality.
 
"Nokia is aiming to mobilise the entire workforce, not just the corner office. We are delivering the industry's most comprehensive mobile offering - the only platform approach to mobility in the market today," said general manager, Enterprise Solutions, Nokia Middle East and Africa, Matt Rothschild.

"The collaboration with IBM is yet another great example of how Nokia is working toward increasing the potential for businesses to achieve new levels of productivity and competitive advantage," he added.

The catalyst in taking mobile email forward has been the development of applications that 'push' email straight to a phone or PDA, rather than relying on the user to log-in remotely and download messages. 

Wireless email is more than just a nice-to-have feature for organisations and mobile employees - it offers tangible, proven business benefits by raising productivity, improving workflow and encouraging greater customer satisfaction.

IBM Lotus Notes 8 offers extended telephony features that help mobile users to effectively share and manage information by using new collaborative communication tools.

Lotus Notes 8 represents the industry's first enterprise collaboration solution largely designed with input from its users, with the continual input of 25,000 businesses around the world. Lotus Notes 8 is designed to transform the inbox into an integrated workspace that brings together email, calendar, instant messaging, office productivity tools and custom applications.

Nokia Intellisync Mobile Suite is a portfolio of products that reside on a single server and can be used alone or together to create a comprehensive mobility solution. Nokia Intellisync Mobile Suite provides businesses with the flexibility, manageability and extensibility to connect virtually any corporate data to virtually any device over almost any network to meet both current and future mobility needs.

Offering unmatched multi-device support, Nokia Intellisync Mobile Suite is the No. 1 "white label" email solution, with more than 40 new operator wins in the last 18 months. Nokia has sold more than three million Nokia Intellisync Mobile Suite user licenses to date.- TradeArabia News Service