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RSS feedsIBM and Palm yesterday signed what could be a very important agreement for both firms.
Under the terms of the deal, the pair will work to provide Palm devices that can access enterprise applications and information using IBM's WebSphere.
The deal was supported by a further boost - for Palm - that will see IBM once again reselling Palms.
At the heart of the announcement is of course IBM's WebSphere - an iteration of which, WebSphere Everyplace Access, will be used to enable the device and server to communicate.
Together it makes for a product with enormous potential and both parties are digging in for the long term, by the look of it, with a product and service roadmap spanning a few years at least.
Using this combination of technologies a company could, potentially, give a mobile worker access to the complete range of enterprise applications while on the move.
That is enormous capability. And, inevitably, something that will not provide a benefit from for some time, given the inherent security and size issues associated with a Palm device. There will be great possibilities though.
IBM and Palm will start delivering a few jointly developed offers for this new capability by the end of this year.
First up will be the availability of Lotus Domino, to give further depth of field. This will be followed closely by an instant messaging application that will enable Palm users to IM other Palm or desktop users.
It is a nice addition, presumably hoping to tap into the text messaging world eventually. Tivoli Network manager will also form part of the bundle, as will IBM's mini-me DB2, DB2 Everyplace.
These are first steps and sound much like something of a technology tryout. Throw some in and see how many bite. But bite they will. This kind of functionality is what the world has been waiting for. And together this pair seem formidable.
IBM has the centralised architecture within Websphere to manage it; Palm has the leading handheld device. Nurture that for a few years, roll the principle across more devices in a few years time and suddenly everyone will be super-connected.
The question is how useful all of that turns out to be. It could be too expensive, too insecure, you may take up too much of the Palm footprint when you access business applications. It could just be a pain - or maybe even Microsoft will trump it. There is a long way to go, but this is a great start.
But it is another example of IBM's Pervasive computing model - based entirely around WebSphere and MQSeries.
That has been IBM's dream for as long as we can remember. It wants connected devices everywhere, ideally with a bit of IBM technology or an IBM service helping it on its way. And this is another step, an important one.
It sounds like it might help dig Palm out of its self-made hole too. Deals like this, particularly considering the fact that IBM will start reselling Palms again into its own enormous accounts, can do wonders to establish a device as a corporate must-have.
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