I read Gerardo Dada’s MSDN Blog item titled Windows Mobile eMail Troubleshooting with the hope of getting some insight on topic. Then, I read the key sentence:
If step 2 fails then you need to chat with your IT department.
Um, say what? Let’s think this through. From my observation, the vast majority of Windows Mobile device users do not have an IT department to consult with. And, for the ones whose organizations do provide them a WiMo device, their IT group is probably so busy with Windows Server, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and a bunch of server and desktop applications that they are not really focusing on WiMo support.But, let’s say I’m wrong. Let’s say that 80% of all WiMo users are part of an organization that handed them a WiMo device and supports it fully. Why would those people need to read a blog to fix their email problem? Wouldn’t they just go to their IT department first? And, what about the other 20% (which is probably more like 95%) of WiMo users? Let’s say that there are 10 million WiMo units out there in use. If 80% is enterprise supported, that still leaves 2 million people without support of any kind.
I think a reality check is needed here. The vast majority of people I have spoken or emailed with over the past 10 years do not have an Exchange Server or are not allowed to connect to it with their WiMo devices. So, we really need some non-Exchange based ActiveSync/WMDC/email support. Even those of us who do work for large organizations often (usually) do not have WiMo support (there may be Palm OS or Blackberry support though).
You make some good points. Let me clarify a few things:
1. My comment about contacting your IT department is because the problem seems to be with your Exchange Server. If OWA does not work, they need to fix the problem. We work with many large companies with capable helpdesks that can answer these questions. We are alos training them to solve Windows Mobile problems in a more effective way.
2. While your comment may be true about the past 10 years, it is changing very rapidly. In addition, many smaller businesses are getting a full Exchange server when they buy Small Business Server (which costs under $1,000). Hosted Echange for smaller businesses is growing really fast too. Costs are as low as $10 per month.
3. You are right in that end users need end-to-end support, and we are working on a number of initiatives to provide this. It is not an easy problem because of volume -as you say, it could be in the millions. Stll, if the user’s email server is down, their IT department must fix it before any kind of device or PC can sync email.
Thanks for your comments,
-GD