Welcome to the brave new world of device and data synchronization, the critical task of seamlessly updating data across multiple devices. Here, everything from personal digital assistants (PDAs)?such as Palms and Compaq iPAQ Handhelds?to cell phones and BlackBerry two-way e-mail devices slips through the corporate back door or strolls in the front.

"It’s like in the early days of the PC," when users snuck PCs into corporations, creating islands of computing cut off from the mainstream of corporate data, says Pete Grillo, director of synchronization services with Palm. And once again, CIOs face the daunting problem of bringing those unauthorized purchases into the fold, says Tim Scannell, an analyst with the Mountain View, Calif.-based Mobile Insights research and consulting group. That means finding ways to synchronize corporate and personal data (contact information, to-do lists, personal calendars and similar information) among the disparate pieces of hardware and technologies.

Three Ways to Sync

Generally, there are three ways that portable devices synchronize their data?directly with an individual PC using built-in or add-on software, via a Web portal and using enterprise-level software that synchronizes not just personal information but enterprise data as well.

The most common is individual synchronization, in which the device connects directly to and synchronizes with its owner’s data on a PC. PDAs come with this capability, but that synchronization is often limited. For example, there’s no way to synchronize Lotus Notes with a Palm device using Palm’s built-in software.

Being unable to synchronize explains the need for add-in software, such as Pumatech’s Intellisync, which lets individuals synchronize with Notes as well as Novell GroupWise and other applications. But Intellisync, and other software like it, is designed more for individual syncing than for sharing corporate data.

For a more robust approach, some users sync through Web-based portals or application service providers (ASPs) such as fusionOne (www.fusionone.com), WeSync.com (www.wesync.com) or Yahoo’s calendar (calendar.yahoo.com). This approach has several advantages over software-based syncing. For example, portals can sync all of a person’s devices?desktop and laptop PCs, PDA and cell phones?whereas software usually supports a limited menu of devices. Some ASPs, such as the Palm-owned WeSync.com, lets several people share calendars with each other.