IBM taps wireless domain with SWAP

Earlier this month, IBM unveiled what it called a breakthrough software technology that lets customers use a Palm OS handheld to manage Internet-based commercial operations while on the road.

Dubbed Superior Wireless Applications (SWAP), the software gives Palm users wireless access to certain types of management-related information about a Web site, such as catalog price lists, traffic statistics, performance information and inventory reports.

SWAP consists of two parts. The first is a client program that's downloaded to a Palm OS handheld, such as the Palm V or Palm VII. The second part is a server program - currently available only for servers running IBM's AIX operating system - that can extract the requested information, reformat it and send it back to the Palm handheld, says Tim Dougherty, director of e-business for IBM Web servers.

Web managers can write server scripts in the Perl scripting language to unlock, in effect, other functions on the server, he says. A sales executive, for example, could wirelessly place orders, access sales reports and tap into the company database.

SWAP offers an array of security with password protection, support for encryption and the ability to limit access to specific Palm devices using the unique serial number of each device. IBM created SWAP in its development facilities in Austin, Texas.

The software runs on AIX, IBM's version of the Unix operating system, and can be downloaded onto the new IBM eServer p640.

Announced earlier this month, the p640 is a rack-mounted Web server specifically designed for wireless access. The p640 costs $18,054.

SWAP software improves on Big Blue's existing System Networking, Analysis and Performance Pilot (SNAPP) software. That technology, released earlier this year, offers a remote administration tool for IT managers and administrators equipped with Palm devices. SWAP expands this basic capability to a larger number of applications.

At least one analyst thinks IBM is playing catch-up with the SWAP rollout.

"IBM isn't the only company that is wirelessly enabling their products; they're continuing the trend that was started about 18 months ago," notes Tim Sheedy, research manager at the European Mobile Communications EMEA unit at market research firm IDC.

"IBM seems to be using its existing customer base - for example, WebSphere users - to use its technology [to keep them from] moving to a competitor," Sheedy says, noting that SAP AG, Oracle and Informix are ahead of IBM with mobile services.

IBM: www.ibm.com

Evers is a correspondent with the IDG News Service's Amsterdam bureau.