DataViz first began development of Documents To Go for Palm OS back in 1998. "Right from the launch we have been looking at other implementations for Documents To Go," says Danny Tu, Documents To Go Product Manager. "As a business we didn't just want to stay on one platform, so we have been looking at Symbian OS for quite a while." For its first foray into Symbian OS, UIQ appealed most because of the similarities with Palm devices, both ergonomically and in terms of the customer base. Even so, the port was not simply a porting of the Palm offering. "We spent some time understanding UIQ and realised that a wireless smartphone had very different dynamics from a sync'ed PDA," says Danny. "Smartphone users are going to be using Documents To Go without access to a PC before sending documents on to co-workers. Therefore, with a wireless solution the user needs file fidelity. As a result, we concentrated on what's under the hood, to make sure the file formatting stayed intact. So the Symbian OS version of Documents To Go was a redesign of the whole product to include our InTact Technology."

The story is very much the same for RoadSync as it is again a ground-up development for UIQ. "Development of RoadSync was timed around our licensing of ActiveSync from Microsoft," explained Ilya Eliashevsky, RoadSync Product Manager. "We are only the fifth ActiveSync licensee and the only independent software vendor licensee. This first version was really ahead of the market as it is the features in Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2, with push technology and security enhancements, which will further the value of RoadSync to corporate customers. But it has given us the opportunity to get some great customer feedback."

The importance of Symbian OS to DataViz is underlined by the fact that it has already released updates to both products. In fact, Danny and Ilya indicated that more enhancements are due in the Fall.

DataViz has made extensive use of the vendor developer communities from both Sony Ericsson and Nokia, and has recently become a Symbian Platinum Partner. "We have found these programs to be extremely helpful," says Danny. "Getting access to development resources and gaining an understanding of where the market is going has been of real benefit." They have however found the Symbian ecosystem very different from that of Palm, particularly the number of players involved from the hardware manufacturer, through to the carrier and user. "We are a company that has been in the development of software for a long time," says Ilya. "So we were very confident in our ability to learn about the OS. What has taken the time is getting the right contacts."

Probably the biggest challenge for DataViz in moving to Symbian OS has been the challenge of recognition. "We are very well known in the States for our Palm solutions to mobilise Office," says Ilya. "Entering into this new space we have had to re-establish our credential and show a whole new set of customers our core competencies which have been built successfully around Microsoft Office compatibility solutions for over 20 years."

Technically the challenges have come from specific areas of Symbian OS that DataViz works with. "Documents To Go and RoadSync are not simple games or personal utilities; so our development was quite extensive," says Ilya. "Specifically RoadSync makes use of the very deep parts of the operating system. Because of its integration with built-in phone features such as the messaging application, our biggest roadblocks came from support issues that fell outside those the standard documentation and support resources addressed. When our internal testing encountered issues that we were not able to resolve on our own, we'd need to seek outside support. In doing so, occasionally, it felt as though the vendor support didn't have all of the information on what we wanted to do. This meant delays in the response and at times did affect our development and release schedules."

Part of DataViz's commitment to Symbian OS has been to seek Symbian Signed status for its applications. They found the process worked smoothly. "We would submit the application and literally 7 days later it would come back signed," says Danny. Danny also highlighted one that of the keys to this smooth execution is DataViz's own solid testing program. DataViz does have one reservation with the program, which is the issue it causes with product updates. "For every update we have to submit to Symbian Signed, which is an obvious overhead,' says Danny. "But we are definitely happy to work with the program, as it lends us creditability and is clearly important for the industry to make sure that all applications are tested."

While Documents To Go has a fairly safe market niche, there being only one other competitive product for Symbian OS, RoadSync is entering an already competitive mobile e-mail market. With other vendors consolidating, is DataViz concerned about simply being another e-mail sync product? "There is a lot of opportunity in the mobile space," says Ilya. "We are offering a solution that is unique, particularly to Symbian OS. We are taking the Exchange ActiveSync technology that we have licensed directly from Microsoft and are now extending it to reach non-Microsoft based devices, such as the Sony Ericsson P910." Ilya points out that, depending on the source, there are approximately 125 million Exchange users. Compare this to the 3 million licensed Blackberry users, and the opportunity is obvious. "The important differentiator for RoadSync, when compared to Blackberry, Good, JP Mobile or most other solutions, is that the user does not have recurring service fees," says Ilya. "It's a one-off purchase and does not require its own server or other components to be added to existing servers. It simply leverages an enterprises' existing investment in Exchange 2003. When enterprises start saying 'hey it is time to go mobile' I believe that RoadSync will be the easy and affordable way for them to do so."

Device bundling has been an important part of marketing its Palm products and is likely to be part of the strategy for Symbian OS too. "While bundling is certainly one option we are actively exploring, we also find that volume licensing and selling commercial software to be a successful strategy," says Ilya. "So whether our value-add solutions are preinstalled with devices or are purchased by corporate customers and end-users that have made investments in devices already in the market, our goal is be a premium brand that reliably, seamlessly and affordably addresses the Office compatibility needs of today's mobile worker."

So where is DataViz going next? "As far as Documents To Go is concerned, the thing we will be looking at hardest is the synchronising problem," says Danny. "Many of our products grew up in a synchronised world and before we introduce them to wireless we want to make sure the experience is right." More concrete plans include a RoadSync implementation on Series 80 with a Series 60 solution to follow. Then DataViz will be adding new features that are enabled by Microsoft Exchange Service Pack 2. Beyond that? "Ultimately we will listen to our customers," says Danny. "Much of what we have achieved has been by fulfilling real demands to mobilise Office applications, and that is what we will continue doing."

For more information on www.dataviz.com. Both products are available in volume licenses for enterprise users.