Wireless/Mobile /

Interactive scorecard and NetResults: Wireless

Network World Fusion, 06/25/01

Every network is unique. This calculator lets you change the weights given to scores from our review to see how these products might be best suited for your needs.

Here's how it works:
As of Jan. 8, 2001, Network World has switched its scoring scale. We will now score products on a scale of 1 to 5, rather than 1 to 10. We feel that scoring on a 1 to 5 range would be more easily understood than previous methods. As it relates to school grades, the new scoring would establish 1=D, 2=C, 3=B, 4=A. A score of 5 would be the exceptional score - a scholastic equivalent would be scoring an A in an honors class.

For each category below, assign the percentage weight you think is most appropriate. The percent-o-meter box on the right will keep track of your weightings to let you know when you've reached 100%. When you fill in the last box, hit your enter key, and you'll see how the apps rate (along with our final score for comparison).

Percent-
o-meter

Category	Our weight	Your weight
Wireless device support	20%	%
User interface	20%	%
Adherance to standards	20%	%
Security	10%	%
Platform neutrality	10%	%
Documentation	10%	%
Installation	10%	%

Results table

Below, you'll find the 1-5 score given to each app by our reviewers. To obtain the final score: Multiply each individual score by the weighting given that category, then add up all those resulting numbers.

Mobile Studio 2.0 Go-
Anywhere Platform 2.32 OneBridge Mobility Platform 1.1 Mobil Internet Platform Version 2.1 XMLEdge 2.6 M-1 Mobile App. Server 1.0 Echo 1.1.253

Wireless device support 5 5 5 4 3 3 3

User interface 5 4 3 2 3 2 2

Adherance to standards 5 5 5 4 3 3 4

Security 3 3 4 3 3 3 3

Platform neutrality 4 4 4 5 3 4 2

Document-
ation 3 4 4 3 3 3 3

Install-
ation 3 3 3 5 3 3 3

Our total 4.3 4.2 4.1 3.6 3.0 2.9 2.9

YOUR TOTAL

Scoring key:
5: Exceptional showing in this category. Defines the standard of excellence;
4: Very good showing. Although there may be room for improvement, this product was much better than average;
3: Average showing in this category. Product was neither especially good nor exceptionally bad;
2: Below average. Lacked some features or lower securityormance than other products, or than was expected;
1: Considerably subpar, or lacking features being reviewed.

NetResults

Blue Ribbon winner Mobile Studio 2.0 and Interaction Server 2.0
RATING: 4.3
COMPANY: iConverse
COST: Starts at $100,000.
PROS: Superior visual design tool;
excellent device support.
CONS: None.

GoAnywhere Platform 2.32
(Includes AnyDevice Mobile Server, AnyDevice Voice Server and AnyDevice Studio)
RATING: 4.2
COMPANY: AnyDevice COST: Starts at $100,000.
PROS: Excellent device support; good visual design environment.
CONS: Proprietary wireless markup language.

OneBridge Mobility Platform 1.1
(Version 2.0 released as we finished this review)
RATING: 4.1
COMPANY: ViaFone
COST: Starts at $100,000.
PROS: Excellent device support; highly scalable; good security features.
CONS: Visual design tool relies too heavily on text editor component.

Mobil Internet Platform Version 2.1
RATING: 3.6
COMPANY: Air2Web
COST: A complete production application starts at $120,000.
PROS: Good device support; ongoing operational Air2Web role can reduce your IT wireless burden.
CONS: No visual design tool; ongoing operational Air2Web role is an extra relationship to manage.

XMLEdge 2.6
RATING: 3.0
COMPANY: MobileQ
COST: Typically $100,000.
PROS: Easy-to-use drag-and-drop visual design environment.
CONS: Proprietary wireless markup language.

M-1 Mobile Application Server 1.0
(Version 2.0 was released as we finished this review)
RATING: 2.9
COMPANY: Aligo
COST: $50,000 per CPU.
PROS: Excellent application architecture; highly scalable.
CONS: Needs a better visual design tool.

Echo 1.1.253
RATING: 2.9
COMPANY: Wireless Knowledge
COST: Starts at $40,000 per server.
PROS: Much simpler to use than the other tools.
CONS: Windows-centric.

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