Syncing handhelds to corporate data wirelessly isn't easy

NEW YORK - The benefits of synchronizing data over wireless networks between handheld users and corporate networks promise to be great, but observers say the complexities and problems inherent in reconciling databases and applications in such environments may be even greater.

The benefits of synchronization can include pushing pricing, inventory and other fresh corporate data out to mobile users, updating corporate applications with data collected in the field, and providing end users with faster data response times by enabling them to store updated data on their mobile devices.

But enthusiasm for such benefits is tempered by concerns that wireless links are slow, prone to glitches and expensive. IT groups also have to resolve tough issues such as who's responsible for data and the changes to it; how to reconcile changes to data stores; how to juggle data structures in different applications; and how to design applications for low-storage, low-bandwidth handheld devices.

"It's inherently more complicated than accessing data on one central server," says Andy Kasznay, software engineer with Northeast Utilities in Berlin, Conn. "But our business requires it."

The utility uses database replication technology from Sybase's iAnywhere Solutions and a mobile message queuing system from Broadbeam to send data to about 200 field electricians and environmental coordinators.

Mobile data synchronization was a hot topic last week at Internet World Wireless, where Alan Kessler, COO of platform and products for Palm, delivered a keynote address. During his speech, he outlined a number of steps the company is taking to make its PDAs more viable on wireless networks. Among other things, the company is creating a synchronization link, apparently based on software from recent acquisition WeSync, that will let Palm's newly unveiled MyPalm portal act as a clearinghouse for pushing data changes out to all Palm devices authorized to share contact, calendar and e-mail information.

"A change to [data on] any Palm device will be synchronized with all other authorized Palm devices linked to the portal," he said.

"Most handheld computers today are glorified Day-Timers, and most of them are tied to a desktop computer or a laptop," says Bill Jones, vice president of product management with Synchrologic, one of several synchronization vendors exhibiting at the show. "How can we harness the raw computing power of the enterprise [for these devices]?"

In stages, he says, by first synchronizing personal information, such as contacts, schedules and e-mail; then file sharing and systems management data; and finally enterprise applications.

Like most other synchronization vendors, Synchrologic is only now expanding into wide-area wireless support. Some products, but not all, currently run over 802.11b wireless LANs. Synchrologic will add wireless WAN support to its www.readysyncgo.com portal in a few weeks and to both its server products in a few months.

Another vendor, Extended Systems of Boise, Idaho, is working on a version of its ExtendConnect Server software that is designed for wirelessly connected handhelds. A key part of the new release is a store-and-forward messaging system that can handle the vagaries of glitch-prone, low-bandwidth wireless connections.

"Right now, synchronization is point-to-point," says Steve Wood, research and development project manager for the company. "Our next-generation [software] will let us sync anything to anywhere."

SyncML, a specification backed by Cisco, Lotus, Nokia and more than 500 other companies, is supposed to advance Wood's goal of interoperability by creating a uniform XML-based technique for synchronizing data. But even SyncML points to difficulties.

"Lotus Notes has something called 'recurring appointments,' " Wood says. "But Palm doesn't handle these. This [kind of problem] will be a challenge to SyncML. How do you map disparate feature sets to different devices?"

These are just some of the problems. Observers say the apparent ease of slipping your Palm device into its cradle wired to your PC, and moving some phone numbers and schedule changes back and forth, has ill-prepared handheld users for the challenges of managing distributed data.

"There are major league problems with" mobile data synchronization, says Dale Gonzalez, vice president of wireless development for Air2Web, an Atlanta wireless application service provider. The traditional difficulties of replicating data are compounded by unreliable, low-bandwidth wireless networks, which might lose part of a record or drop a database transaction halfway through the update. The transmission of data has to be minimized and even more managed. It needs to be sent in small chunks and be able to restart after a dropped connection without the entire update being sent again.

Dynamic data, such as changing inventory or package shipping information, is the worst for synchronization, Gonzalez says.

It's better to keep such data on a server and let users, if they must, wirelessly access it via a browser. Data that changes rarely is better-suited for synchronization, but users need to ask themselves how valuable is this data and how necessary is it to wirelessly synchronize it?

"Why not use a cradle?" Gonzalez asks. "If the data changes, say, every Tuesday at 6 a.m., just tell all your users to dock their handheld in its PC cradle and synchronize at 6:30."