Wireless Knowledge Workstyle Server Edition for Exchange v.4.0
Workstyle Server Edition is installed in two parts. Once you have ensured that your server hardware platform is compliant and have the Microsoft 2000 Server operating system and Exchange applications installed, patched, and configured to Wireless Knowledge's instructions, you run the Workstyle Foundation software setup application. This installs several other Microsoft applications and patches that are required to run Workstyle Server. Once the foundation setup is complete, you can then proceed to load the actual application itself by running the separate installer program.
The application installer initially prompts you for user information such as SQL admin and Exchange user information, then it populates its database and re-starts applications such as IIS, Exchange, and SMTP services.
Wireless Knowledge has released a separate service pack for Workstyle--we found it a little strange that the service pack had not been applied to the application that was available for download. After you install the service pack, you can launch the configuration/administration wizard. Interestingly, Workstyle requires you to authenticate yourself when opening it up to perform configuration and administration tasks; it doesn't rely on your Active Directory to determine you are who you say you are. Once the wizard is completed, then the administration console is available for use--it gives you the function to add and remove mail servers and also the ability to create and remove users. You can import new users from a tab-delimited file, which can be handy if migrating from another application. Of all the applications we reviewed, Workstyle server was the most straightforward to configure and to administer.
The software installation was a bit muddled, and we felt the foundation software install/checking and the main installation could have been combined along with the integration of the service pack. However this is offset somewhat by the ease of configuration and administration. While this may not be the most fully-featured package out there, it certainly does the task of e-mail to mobile with some synchronisation ability.
There is a version of Workstyle Server available that runs under Lotus Domino too, so if you are in an organisation that supports both Exchange and Domino, this may at least provide some form of standardisation for your mobile device support.
| Product: | Wireless Knowledge Workstyle Server Edition for Exchange v.4.0 |
| Price: | US$50 per user per year. Volume pricing available for more than 100 users. |
| Vendor: | Wireless Knowledge |
| Phone: | +1 858 882 6400 |
| Web: | www.wirelessknowledge.com |
| Interoperability: |
Versions for Exchange and Domino, plus good support for a wide variety of mobile devices. |
| Futureproofing: |
Very scalable; one server can support up to 2000 users; clustering and load balancing supported. |
| ROI: |
Yearly licensing model isn’t that impressive. |
| Service: |
N/A |
| Rating: |
|
13%
1%
