IT Employment
We're interested in hearing from IT executives on how they use PDAs in their lives--or if they've decided that they technology doesn't have enough to offer them. If you like the devices, what features are the most helpful to you?
--Suzanne Thornberry
on assignment for CIORepublic
by harry bosch
I'm no CEO but I'm currently supporting 4 members from our board of directors and help them use their brand new Palm M505 PDA's. Its a nightmare.
The problem is syncing the damned things with a usefull workgroup application (in our case Lotus Notes). Appointments get lost and some times the software just quits out because it can't handle much more than ~600 appointments per sync.
We have run several laboratory test and our conclusion is that the software is to immature and the lack of an open communication standard that specifies workgroup software to PDA synchronising/translation makes the current generation of PDA's useless for serious work. To be certain of our conclusion (and help some poor consultant put food on the table in these difficult times) we're in the process of getting a second opinion but we don't see them coming to any other conclusion than the one whe had. Without a working link to a workgroup application the PDA is a toy. Board members on this level rarely make their own appointments their secretaries do that for them. If only the PDA would sync reliably with their agenda before the leave the office and would update the 1-2 appointments they do on the run the following sync cycle it would be a perfect tool but alas it ain't so.
Does anyone have a better experiences syncing Lotus Notes to a PDA? I'm also intersseted if the other side (the vendor locked WinCE <-> Outlook side) has better experiences.
Harry,
That's a terrific comment! I'd like to quote you in an article that will appear in CIORepublic. If that's OK with you, would you please e-mail me and let me know how you'd like to be identified? (That is, is it OK to use your name? How about your company name, or a description of the business you're in.)
Thanks,
Suzanne Thornberry
zant@bellsouth.net
by tmb42
Harry,
I have a compaq ipaq pocket pc and a program called intellisync that I have had no troubles at all with, just something to look into. Hope it helps.
by wchambers
We are running Exchange 5.5 at my company and synch several palm Pilots using software from Extended Systems. This runs very well and also supports Lotus. They have a free download at their site www.extendedsystems.com, their tech support is good and the price very reasonable.
I suggest you try the download, that is what I did and had no regrets since.
by pterry
As head of an R&D team, I have been responsible for the investigation into PDA's and specifically Notes replication.
There are a wide variety of products that are available today such as XTND Connect, Intellisync, Easysync and Pylon Pro Conduit.We have generally found that these products work well for the platforms they are designed for (WinCE & Palm).
The real problem is not the maturity of the replication applications (although there is room for omprovement), but the nature of the functionality. We have had more problems resulting from lack of user education, or a misunderstanding of the capabilities of the products rather than a failure of the product to replicate.
For what it is worth, we have recommended the use of Pylon Pro Conduit for Palm devices. The jury is still out on an appropriate WinCE application, however both XTND Connect and Intellisync are the front runners.
by kimann
by dfwelch
We have a lot of PDAs at our office, but our IT Support team is leary of what level of support to offer. My challenge is to come up with some specific $ benefits to get them on board:
e.g. Paper schedules not printed, killer applications, other cost avoidance, etc.
by tomsal
PDAs are just the latest "tech fad gadget" to make someone look more important than they are if you ask me.
I don't dislike PDAs, I don't disdain them...I merely LOATHE them.
As Harry pointed out there are major problems regarding syncing withapplications. Its mainly very slow, and the apps that do "support" it - are horrendously bad with regards to reliability.
We have six Palm Pilots here (varying models). The small screens and the "gui" for working with PDAs range from cumbersome to near worthless.
I don't like small screen devices (Instant messaging on cell phones completely boggles my mind), the slow nature of communicating anything of business value, the aggravation of working on such small scales (especially if you havebig hands), the lack of standard support for a wide range of applications on the desktop, I just don't understand the big deal with PDAs.
They are pitched as keeping you organized and making you more productive - several of our sales executives report it makes them LESS productive (and keep in mind our National Sales director is pretty fast and really knows how to use his Palm Pilot too.).
I love technology - I have a custom gaming system at home, HDTV / surround sound (DTS/5.1) / DVD (Progressive scan), I fiddle with a test LAN (for experimentations/learning) at home....but a PDA?
Nope....You can have my Day Timer organizer (pen and paper) when you pry it from my cold dead fingers.
;)
This discussion is closed to new replies.
Sort by Trending