Will the iPhone Support ActiveSync/Exchange Next Week?

Michael Gartenberg | February 27, 2008, 02:10 PM

The tantalizing news about next week's announcement was the mention of "exciting new enterprise features". Now, that could mean anything but there's been persistent calls for Apple to support Exchange directly on the iPhone and this might be the time for them to do it. It's certainly a feature I've been waiting for.

If Apple were to announce Exchange support on the iPhone next week it will be important news for the platform. One of the biggest issues regarding the iPhone that I've talked about in the past was the issue of Exchange support for OTA sync. Going through a tethered connection for calendar and contacts and using IMAP for email is a step backward for anyone using a Blackberry (with a Blackberry Exchange server) or a Windows Mobile device. Now, if part of the Enterprise announcements next week, Apple announces it has licensed the Activesync/Exchange protocol from Microsoft, presumably this would mean that the iPhone would at some point sync directly with Exchange. (Apple would have licensed only the protocol that transfers the raw data, they would still need to write the end user client to make it all work). Of course this is all speculation on my part until we hear the details next week.

1. This would be a nice win for Apple and will likely lead to a greater adoption of the iPhone in corporate settings. Bottom line if this happens?Big win for Apple. This was an issue they've been dinged on since the initial announcement of the iPhone and it changes the game for them in terms of potential corporate adoption.
2. Good win for the Exchange team at Microsoft (who would be responsible for deals like this, not the Windows Mobile team). This would leverage the presence of Exchange across multiple platforms and show the breadth of Exchange as a corp communications platform.
3. Not especially good news for the Windows Mobile team (but not necessarily bad news either). It would take away an important differentiation for their devices, especially among corp. IT departments. It would be a lot harder to say no to the CEO who bought an iPhone with her own pocket and asked IT to make it work for her. It's going to take a lot of effort for the Windows Mobile team to keep the enterprise messaging on target and make sure IT folks still see why Windows Mobile makes sense for them to deploy and develop on.