Microsoft announced more details of the Windows Phone 7 update (Mango), due out later this year.  They hyped the enterprise features, which are nothing to be proud of, IMO.  Support for searching you server-side mailbox.  Already in WM 6.x?  Check.  Support for IRM.  Already in WM 6.x?  Check.  Lync client. Communicator Mobile for WM 6.x to connect to OCS already?  Check.  A mobile client for Lync should have been released with Lync server RTM.  Conversation views.  Already in WM 6.x?  Check.

Where is the at-rest device encryption?  It is already a cliche to say that it is ironic when Microsoft’s own mobile OS doesn’t support all of their Exchange ActiveSync policies, one of them being the very thing whose absence will keep the OS out of the enterprise.  Because my company deals with PHI/PII, we require at-rest encryption, which means the only devices that we allow via EAS are iDevices, Android with Touchdown installed, and Windows Mobile 6.x.

One may argue that WP7 is a consumer device.  But MS has abandoned everything for WM 6.x.  They may say that WP7 is a consumer device, but they treat as their one-and-only OS for home and business.  They didn’t even release a TechEd app for WM for 6.x, only WP7 (and Android).  So if you release an app for 10,000 enterprise geeks at your premier technical conference for IT Pros and Developers on only your consumer-targeted mobile OS, what message are you really sending about who you target audience is?