Data Synchronization Pain
Friday, April 28th 2006 | Ismael Ghalimi
Data synchronization is a difficult problem to solve, especially when multiple platforms are being used. As long as one is using Microsoft Outlook in conjunction with Microsoft Exchange Server, things go pretty smoothly. The same is true when using Apple Address Book, Apple iCal and Apple Mail in conjunction with Apple iSync. But what happens when your contacts are stored into Salesforce.com and your events are spread across Salesforce.com and Google Calendar? As it turns out, a lot of very unnecessary pain.
I have been trying to export my Salesforce.com contacts to my Cingular 8125 smartphone, and it turned out to be much more difficult than I would have anticipated it to be. I initially used Microsoft ActiveSync in combination with Microsoft Outlook, but it would freeze two-thirds along the way, without much explanations. I then realized that the 64MB of built-in memory offered by my device would not be enough to store all my contacts (I have over 6,800 of them). And because neither ActiveSync nor Outlook would allow me to set filtering rules, I had to upgrade to iAnywhere XTNDConnect PC. I finally managed to make it work by exporting the subset of my contacts for which I have a phone number (about 1,500), thereby enabling the display of the caller’s name on my cellphone. The downside of the solution is that it requires the use of Microsoft Outlook as a gateway between Salesforce.com and my mobile device.
In a perfect world, Salesforce.com should provide a Pocket PC application that would allow the smart phone to synchronize with contacts and events directly over the Internet. And for Gmail users, Salesforce.com should also provide synchronization with Gmail contacts and Google Calendar events. Unfortunately, the world we live in is not perfect, therefore I diligently added a new entry into the Office 2.0 Bug Tracker.
Entry filed under: Office 2.0
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Amen! Data synchronization is much more difficult than it needs to be for any of several reasons — incompetence, negligence, arrogance, or greed. There are common standards available for making information transportable. Shame on those companies and developers who do not use them.
Data synchronization is a really great idea, but after years of trying, maybe it’s time to realize it’s just an idea.
I like single source better. If I put all my contacts in one place, why can’t my cell phone use that list? That way I don’t have to synchronize anything, I only ever update it in one place. Single source doesn’t work with disconnected devices like PDA, but my cell phone is either on the network, or turned off.
One thing I like about Gmail is being able to access it from my cell phone. Before I had one e-mail account using the computer, another from the cell phone provider. I tried synchronizing them, smart forwarding, procmail rules. All ended up being too damn hard to get working.
The same thing with calendar. You need one read/write iCal source and have everything else talk to it. An iCal calendar is also very easy to move, if you decided to change your single source.
Assaf,
I totally agree. Syndication is better than synchronization.
[…] Back in April, I complained about the pains of data synchronization, and my friend Assaf was quick to point to the fact that syndication was a far superior solution. Last week, Spanning Partners released a data syndication service that allows events stored in Salesforce.com to be syndicated to Apple iCal and stored into your iPod. Today, I deployed this solution and used simple export/import techniques to get about 8,000 contacts on my iPod. It worked. […]
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