As
expected and rumored, today the Nokia and Microsoft have entered into an
alliance that is set to deliver a groundbreaking, enterprise-grade solution for
mobile productivity. Microsoft and Nokia will begin collaborating immediately on
the design, development and marketing of productivity solutions for the mobile
professional, bringing Microsoft Office Mobile and Microsoft business
communications, collaboration and device management software to Nokia's Symbian
devices. These solutions will be available for a broad range of Nokia
smartphones starting with the company's business-optimized range, Nokia
E-Series. The two companies will also market these solutions to businesses,
carriers and individuals.
Both Microsoft Corp. and Nokia possess a rare combination of enterprise
experience and consumer understanding and, in addition to the collaboration on
existing software and services, will use these assets to jointly design a range
of new user experiences for future Nokia devices. These experiences will be
identified together, and will be created by dedicated teams inside both
companies to better meet the growing needs of the mobile professional.
"With more than 200 million smartphone customers globally, Nokia is the
world's largest smartphone manufacturer and a natural partner for us," said
Elop. "Today's announcement will enable us to expand Microsoft Office Mobile
to Nokia smartphone owners worldwide and allow them to collaborate on Office
documents from anywhere, as part of our strategy to provide the best
productivity experience across the PC, phone and browser."
"If you are going to provide a seamless and integrated productivity
experience on a mobile device, Microsoft is an ideal partner," said Öistämö.
"Together with Microsoft, we will develop new and innovative user
experiences for employees of small and large businesses alike, ensuring
Nokia's smartphones are an integral part of the office and home-office
environment, and addressing the significant opportunity in mobile enterprise
productivity."
This announcement builds on the existing work Nokia is doing by optimizing
access to E-Mail and other personal information with Exchange ActiveSync. Next
year, Nokia intends to start shipping Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile on
its smartphones, followed by other Office applications and related software and
services in the future like the ability to view, edit, create and share Office
documents on more devices in more places with mobile-optimized versions of
Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft OneNote;
enterprise instant messaging and presence, and optimized conferencing and
collaboration experience with Microsoft Office Communicator Mobile as well as
mobile access to intranet and extranet portals built on Microsoft SharePoint
Server and enterprise device management with Microsoft System Center
Cheers ~ Arne
