But who is this for?
With MSD, ASPs and corporate IT in conjunction with wireless carriers can deliver plain text content from Domino databases to WAP enabled (Wireless Application Protocol) devices such as smart cell phones, two-way pagers, and eventually to PDAs (hybrid PDA/cell phone products are popping up everywhere).

MSD provides Domino shops with a way to extend Domino content via web-based technology and simple messaging to wireless devices. Essentially, it's a server-side Domino add-on designed to communicate with a range of wireless, handheld devices such as pagers and smart cellular phones. Basically, MSD provides access to text data such as entries in the NAB (address book content) and short message services (text only messages transferred using the Short Message Service protocol or SMS).

Sure, this tastes great but is it filling?
Based on the growing sales of PDAs and smart phones I'd say the answer is, well, a lot of people think so. Corporate IT departments can now leverage wireless communications to extend the flow of corporate information and the range of business communications to encompass low-cost wireless devices that are destined to become ubiquitous.

Mobile Notes
The other side of Lotus' new mobile and wireless strategy is "Mobile Notes." This is just a fancy word for "client access license" which is how Lotus plans to make money on MSD. After all, they can't sell a Notes client that runs on a cell phone no matter how smart it is. What they can provide is microbrowser (Handheld Device Markup Language or HDML 2.0 and later) access to Domino content via HDML and integration of Domino messaging with SMS. But, to make any money on this outside of selling the server software and maintenance, Lotus has to get revenue on a per user basis. That's where "Mobile Notes" comes in.

In other words, the Mobile Notes client is not a client. It's someone else's microbrowser and SMS client burned into some cell phone's flash RAM. Actually, this is a pretty sweet deal for Lotus, imagine if you could charge someone money to use a device they already own to access content that already exists in a corporate Domino system. It's brilliant, actually. I wish I'd thought of it.

But seriously, it's a great idea to be able to get email on my phone when I'm 30,000 feet in the air. Of course if you've ever tried writing an email on your phone you'll know that this technology has some way to go. Nonetheless, this technology continues the pattern of businesses leveraging technology to accelerate the business process in the same way that email accelerates the business process compared to paper mail. Companies can sharpen their competitive edge by leveraging MSD and Mobile Notes to streamline communications and enhance their responsiveness to customers, market trends, and competitors.

Mark Lawson is MD of Electric Memo Ltd., who specialize in Lotus Notes solutions. He can be reached at markl@electricmemo.com