Press Release
May 18, 2004
Sendia Wirelessly Extends SalesForce.com to Mobile Workers
Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES Show), Chicago - Sendia Corporation, a new provider of wireless enterprise solutions that extend desktop applications to mobile workers, announced today the launch of its highly anticipated Wireless Salesforce Automation (SFA) Wireless Edition for salesforce.com. Now available, Sendia Wireless SFA wirelessly extends the features and functionality of salesforce.com to wireless handheld devices, including BlackBerry Wireless Handhelds™ developed by Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq:RIMM; TSX:RIM), giving mobile sales professionals wireless access to salesforce.com's on demand customer relationship management (CRM) services. Sendia is demonstrating its products at RIM's Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES), May 18–19, 2004, in Chicago.
"Sendia has taken into account the needs of the end user when designing its wireless applications," said Gerry Purdy, Ph.D., principal analyst at MobileTrax of Cupertino, Calif. "Sendia's wireless applications deliver real and instant value to mobile users, allowing them to remain productive and go about their daily business without worrying about wireless connectivity issues."
"Wireless SFA extends salesforce.com's CRM application to wireless environments, enabling BlackBerry users to remain connected to important customer information," said David Werezak, vice president, Enterprise Business Unit at Research In Motion. "With Sendia, salesforce.com and BlackBerry technology, sales professionals can easily and wirelessly access information while in the field to boost productivity and enhance customer responsiveness."
"It's exciting to be working with a CRM powerhouse like salesforce.com," said Laura Fay, Sendia's vice president of Product Management. "Combining salesforce.com's industry-leading application with Sendia's advanced wireless technology represents a major opportunity for salesforce.com's 130,000+ subscribers. We know how important it is for mobile sales professionals to have access to their salesforce.com data when they're away from the office, which is why we developed this product to be fast, intuitive, and incredibly reliable."
Application and Data Always Available
Sendia designed Wireless SFA to work equally well both in and out of wireless coverage. The intelligent local application and its deep local data set are completely available for use seamlessly, without interruption, even if temporarily out of coverage. When coverage is available, bi-directional data updates occur automatically over the air in the background, with zero interaction required by the user. This allows all the benefits of being wireless to be realized, such as having access to current information, but avoids the shortfall of being unable to do real work when out of wireless coverage.
"Automatic background synchronization allows mobile users to work, uninterrupted, while trusting that the changes and updates they make are never lost, thanks to Sendia's Reliable Transport system," Alex Klyce, Sendia's executive vice president, explained. "Just because it's wireless doesn't mean you have to continuously be in a wireless network coverage area any more to remain productive."
Customizable to Meet Each User's Needs
Sendia's Wireless SFA provides extensive customizability, mirroring the customizability of the desktop version of salesforce.com. This allows IT administrators to configure the product to meet the specific needs of their individual mobile sales teams. Administrators can set up the application so that only data that is most relevant to their sales people is sent to the device, optimizing productivity in the field. Data fields can change to match customization on the backend or be re-arranged by priority of importance based on a user's most critical needs. All server-side customizations are automatically and wirelessly deployed to connected devices.
Sendia Wireless SFA Gives Mobile Salespeople an Edge
Sendia's Wireless SFA wirelessly extends the salesforce.com application to the handheld environment without many of the problems typically associated with wireless versions of Web-based applications. With Sendia Wireless SFA, there are no longer long boot-up times, lost connections, inefficient device interfaces, data exchange integrity and IT management issues.
Instead, using Sendia, mobile workers have an edge over their competition by having immediate and constant access to their important customer files using a handheld device to access and update information.
IT Retains Complete Control, Maintaining Network Security
Sendia's engineers understand the challenges IT administrators face when implementing new technology solutions, which is why Wireless SFA is designed to put the IT department in complete control. From product configuration to device management, Wireless SFA gives IT administrators the ability to assign user rights and immediately disable lost or stolen devices over the air. Additionally, device provisioning takes place over-the-air, resulting in near zero-touch for IT personnel.
Wireless SFA safeguards customer networks by employing end-to-end security with 256-bit AES encryption. The application also encrypts all passwords on the mobile device and server to ensure that networks are not compromised.
Sendia's Streamlined Deployment Process
Sendia has streamlined the deployment process so that companies seeking to empower their mobile sales people can have their teams up and running with the solution in a matter of weeks.
Sendia's Wireless SFA gives salesforce.com subscribers instant access to their customer information. Sales teams can now access key customer information instantly while out on sales calls, between appointments, on business trips, or even on an airplane. Since Wireless SFA is accessed via a handheld device, no laptop is required, eliminating time-consuming boot-ups, server log-ons and lengthy data retrievals.
The Wireless Technology Behind Sendia
Sendia has developed an advanced communications technology based on a Class 4 transport working in combination with a transactional database model. Sendia's system continually compares changes to data on both client and server-side, automatically forwarding only changed data, speeding the exchange of data and ensuring the user always has the very latest information. The technology guarantees that no data is ever lost, and information is never duplicated.
About Research In Motion (RIM)
Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications. RIM technology also enables a broad array of third party developers and manufacturers to enhance their products and services with wireless connectivity to data. RIM's portfolio of award-winning products, services and embedded technologies are used by thousands of organizations around the world and include the BlackBerry® wireless platform, the RIM Wireless Handheld™ product line, software development tools, radio-modems and software/hardware licensing agreements. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. RIM is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.
About Sendia
Founded in 2002, Sendia Corporation develops and markets software that extends existing enterprise applications to wireless handheld devices. Guided by a seasoned management team with extensive communication and networking experience, Sendia's mobile application server/smart client technology enables rapid development and deployment of secure wireless applications, fully integrated into enterprise applications, either on premises or in ASP-type environments. Sendia-powered applications are fast, easy to use, and reliable wireless solutions that customers trust to get the job done. With Sendia, wireless works.
The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.
