Proxim First to Ship 802.11a CardBus Cards with 100 Mbps WirelessNetworking;
Harmony 802.11a Family Enables a New Era of High Speed Wireless Mobility
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 8, 2001--Proxim, Inc., (Nasdaq:PROX), the leader in wireless broadband networking, today announced the availability of the first IEEE 802.11a-compliant products for the enterprise, offering unmatched speed for wireless connectivity. Harmony 802.11a products enable connection speeds up to 100 Mbps in Proxim's 2X mode, with better throughput at any range than 802.11b, a current 11 Mbps standard. With speeds up to 100 Mbps, users can now share large files, such as presentations and spreadsheets, distribute and play high-quality multimedia content, and collaborate on projects over a wireless network at wired network speeds.
"Proxim is pleased to be the first company to allow deployment of this groundbreaking new capability in wireless LAN technology," said Lynn Chroust, director of the commercial networks business unit for Proxim. "Proxim's 802.11a product family provides the industry's fastest wireless LAN, with 100 Mbps speeds for conference room collaboration, classroom networking and public hot spots."
Proxim is now shipping the Harmony 802.11a FastWireless(TM) Networking Kit, allowing ad-hoc mobile networking at 100 Mbps. The Harmony FastWireless(TM) Networking Kit includes two 802.11a CardBus Cards, accompanying software, and simple instructions on creating high-speed ad-hoc networks. For secure wireless access to enterprise network resources, Proxim will ship the Harmony 802.11a Access Point in November of this year. "802.11a is poised to help enterprises leverage wireless networks without sacrificing connection speeds," said Gemma Paulo, industry analyst with Cahners In-Stat. "With the introduction of its 802.11a CardBus Card, Proxim is one of the leaders in bringing this technology to the market." With Harmony 802.11a, the speed, capacity, and reliability of enterprise wireless LANs is dramatically improved. 802.11a offers significantly more channels than 802.11b, allowing much greater scalability for large deployments. Operating in the license-free 5 GHz band, 802.11a also provides network connectivity with no interference from 2.4 GHz devices such as cordless phones, microwave ovens, Bluetooth devices, and other wireless LANs. The Harmony 802.11a family is fully IEEE 802.11a-compliant, and offers 54 Mbps data rate in 802.11a mode. Proxim's 2X mode adds data rates up to 100 Mbps, incorporating over 15 years of Proxim wireless LAN expertise. Microsoft's CRM Play Company readies server, APIs with goal of becoming 'No. 1 provider for SMBs' By Barbara Darrow & Paula Rooney CRN

Redmond, Wash.
3:15 PM EST Fri., Aug. 31, 2001
Microsoft plans to deliver a CRM server in the fourth quarter of 2002, according to documents examined by CRN.
"Our goal is to become the No. 1 provider of CRM software and services for small and midsize organizations," the documents state. Microsoft estimates the CRM market will hit the $25 billion mark in the next five years.
The CRM server, as well as CRM-centric APIs, promise to let businesses track customers, leads and opportunities from any type of client device, according to the documents.
The .Net-based CRM effort appears distinct from the CRM services available to small and midsize businesses on Microsoft's bCentral Web site, observers say.
"If Microsoft can provide a CRM engine they would host . . . and that would synchronize with a local portable client it would be huge," says Ronald Kramer, vice president of All Computer Solutions, a Petaluma, Calif., solution provider. "Synchronizing with a mobile sales force has always been a problem for CRM."
Given the long lead time, it's unclear if Microsoft will actually ship what it plans. Other proposed products, such as Microsoft TaxSaver, have been shelved for marketing reasons. But as of now, the company is looking to hire program managers and software engineers for what it is calling its "MS CRM" team, company sources say.
MS CRM is bound to stir controversy. The company has courted CRM vendors to develop for .Net. It already partners with CRM kingpin Siebel Systems, San Mateo, Calif., in the midmarket and is allied with Pivotal, North Vancouver, British Columbia, and Onyx Software, Bellevue, Wash. None of these companies would comment.
But Microsoft raised ISV eyebrows last year by jumping into accounting software via its acquisition of Great Plains Software.
"Microsoft already started down this path [of conflict with ISVs] with its Great Plains buyout," says Kelly Spang, analyst for Current Analysis.
But partners say Microsoft must enter CRM, at least for small and midsize businesses, because of the market's potential. BCentral lets such businesses access Web hosting, accounting and other applications via an ASP model.
Partners have speculated that Microsoft will buy a CRM partner,probably Pivotal or Onyx,to jump-start its CRM effort. And, some sources maintain Microsoft could be staffing up now to ensure it can manage integration of a third-party product into its own portfolio. Microsoft did not return calls for comment.
The Siebel-Microsoft relationship is already tense. "Microsoft does not think Siebel is paying enough attention to the midmarket," says one industry insider. And Microsoft sees Siebel shifting more of its base development work to IBM's DB2 database and away from Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle.
Siebel is already feeling the heat in the midmarket. Last month, J.D. Edwards bought Youcentric rather than continue to offer Siebel solutions to its
customers.
Meanwhile, other CRM players aren't standing still. Salesforce.com, San Francisco, is readying a .Net version of its CRM offering, which is sold via the ASP model. "Although we have Oracle on the back end, we are going all-Microsoft on the client and hope to incorporate Microsoft servers as well for data warehousing and other technology," says Salesforce.com Chairman Marc Benioff.
Siebel will launch Siebel 7 this fall.
"Microsoft's CRM plans are the most ill-kept secret in the world. The only remaining mystery is whether Microsoft will end up building or buying its way into the market," says Gartner analyst Esteban Kolsky.