Updates on PCs, Open Source, and the iPhone

Lenovo Group, Ltd. announced a slew of new notebook options aimed at both small businesses and enterprise customers. Elsewhere, evidence of Microsoft Corp.'s shifting strategies manifested itself as the company invested in a key open source initiative. Lastly, Apple Inc.'s rollout of its mobile synchronization platform for the iPhone proved problematic for the company and its users.

Focal Points:

• Lenovo announced a new SL series line of notebooks aimed at small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs) that include mobile broadband connectivity, higher-end multimedia capabilities, and optional Blu-Ray DVD drives. Additionally, six new ThinkPad notebooks are being introduced that include optional light emitting diode (LED) backlit displays, solid state hard drives (SSDs), and run cooler and quieter than their predecessors. Market predictions project that the SMB notebook market will grow 50 percent over the next three years. Pricing for the new SL line begins at $799, with some announced products available now. In related news, Gateway, Inc., now a division of Acer Inc., shuttered its direct sales model. Gateway computers are now available indirectly only through online and physical retail establishments.
• Microsoft announced it is joining the open source Apache Software Foundation (ASF) as a platinum sponsor. Open source initiatives, including the Apache HTTP Web server, fall under the direction of ASF. Microsoft has made its Microsoft Web Services stack compatible with the Apache Axis Web services endeavor, and is also working with the Apache POI project. The company is releasing an additional 150 protocols to the Microsoft Open Specification Promise (OSP), wherein the company has promised not to assert rights to Microsoft patented technologies provided under the effort. Work to help Microsoft improve interactions with the PHP programming lanugage is also ongoing, according to the company.
• Users of Apple's MobileMe service (formerly .Mac) have been experiencing significant connectivity and synchronization problems since the service's introduction two weeks ago. The MobileMe service is intended to synchronize calendar, contact, and e-mail data between computers running Microsoft Windows or Apple Macintosh OSX. The MobileMe service is intended to be a Microsoft Exchange substitute for home or small business users, and users are reporting crashing, slow synchronization, and unexpected reboots. Apple reports that the problems are only affecting one percent of the MobileMe user base, and that those users may experience a loss of 10 percent of the messages received between July 16^th and July 18^th. Apple's transition from the .Mac service to MobileMe was only projected to take a few hours but required a full day for the company to complete.

Experton Group believes the initiatives seen from Lenovo and Microsoft are signs of changing business models. Lenovo is responding to the significant business growth representative of the SMB market in general, and lacked products specific to that market segment. Additionally, ThinkPad customers have long lauded the notebooks' capabilities and quality while complaining about the lack of the latest graphic and networking technology. New products address those issues squarely, though a product line targeted specifically at SMBs was not necessary, as it only adds complexity to the array of available offerings. Nonetheless, Experton Group believes the Lenovo's current trajectory demonstrates a nice mix of quality and compelling pricing, helping the vendor to better compete with its competitors. 

The future of Microsoft cannot be based on sales of operating system and Microsoft Office sales alone, and the company knows it. Microsoft has been rolling out new products and services that can be delivered and better interoperate with online Web-delivered services. Further, open source development and applications are taking a strong hold in both educational systems and corporations, and Microsoft understands it must find ways to coexist if it hopes to successfully compete as development, delivery, interoperability, and product models change. IT executives should expect further open source moves from Microsoft, and embrace solutions that aid in moving the corporate architecture forward.

Though Apple's MobileMe is not intended as for the enterprise, the issues are emblematic of a vendor is lacking in the delivery of always available, business-class capabilities. Apple products remain attractive and are priced at the top of their segment, but will require several more iterations and work with enterprise vendors before they are ready for corporate deployments. IT executives should not count Apple out of the enterprise for the long haul, but should prepare the majority of users to wait until the company can demonstrate that it has the scalability, security, and support expertise necessary.