I know, it’s crazy.  But as I test more and more phones with the need to sync with Microsoft Exchange I realize that the email, calendar, and contact apps that mobile carriers ship with their phones are just not always enough.  The iPhone, Droid 2, Droid X, Droid Pro, HTC Incredible, Blackberry, etc.  I’m not buying any of the old Windows Mobile devices and until Windows Phone 7 without Verizon is a non-starter for me.  Plus, after playing with the Phone 7 for a short time I am not sure everything is baked in there yet either.

So here is my plea – consider the rise of the iPhone and Android as an opportunity.  I’m not asking for anything for free.  I’ll pay.  Just give us Outlook for mobiles and put an end to the misery of trying to get ActiveSync to work correctly for direct push for all devices.  Help us open an email that has an embedded email inside of it and actually be able to read the embedded email.  Help us move messages between folders.  Help us not only accept a meeting request but also add a comment.  Help us see contacts along with their pictures. Help us forward meeting requests to others.  Help us always access the GAL.  Help us see shared contacts that are in public folders.  The list goes on.

I know that there are partial solutions out there and that this is now a consumer driven world, but those consumer diven devices have invaded our enterprises and users want many of the features that I listed.  I realize that its probably never going to happen, but there may be money here.  Oh, and please hurry as I am an Exchange upgrade away from just delivering all of this along with OCS integration using Project GoldenGate.  I have almost all of the pieces in place and will quickly virtualize an environment to support it.  And yes, I realize it is currently a proof of concept, but it is a concept that we will be able to pick up and run with on our own if necessary.

I have long pushed the notion that the client is irrelevant and this will now allow me to push that thinking out to mobile devices as well.