We finally have a legitimate alternative to the RIM offering, said Tim Bajarin, president of researcher Creative Strategies. This is the easiest setup of anything I’ve seen operating in this space so far and the pricing model is significantly less than RIM.

Indeed, Intellisync is touting its new Express e-mail as the easiest way to have a BlackBerry-like experience for wireless e-mail on virtually any data-enabled mobile device.

Of course, that’s on virtually any mobile device other than a BlackBerry.

Intellisync’s hosted service includes wireless push e-mail and PIM sync that remotely updates users’ calendars, contacts and other stuff. It also has a travel function that automatically transfers an itinerary from an inbox into a calendar and gives driving directions between destinations, as well as weather forecasts.

The main pull for Intellisync Express may be its ease of use, since Intellisync manages the e-mail service. And, apparently, almost a luddite can install the hosted-version of the software in about 30 minutes.

And since Intellisync’s software is not a closed architecture, unlike RIM’s, it is more readily scalable around existing enterprise architecture than other products, Bajarin said.

Intellisync’s new service is the first serious threat to RIM outside of the BlackBerry market, he said.

But just how successful it will be in luring new customers depends, in part, on the uptake of non-BlackBerry wireless gadgets.

After all, RIM has more than 2 million users for its BlackBerry device and e-mail software, versus Intellisync’s 300,000. Still, the market is hardly flooded given there are far more than 100 million enterprise e-mail users, Bajarin pointed out.

He estimates PalmOne’s Treo smartphone, for instance, would easily hit 100,000 new sales per month this quarter. And the Treo, while it comes with basic e-mail access, would be a good vehicle for Intellisync’s push e-mail service, he said.

But to gain market ground, Intellisync will need to be much smarter in its marketing to enterprises, Bajarin said.

By selling its software as a hosted service, Intellisync hopes to lure SME customers that have been reluctant to adopt wireless e-mail, said VP of enterprise markets David Shim.

The company also expects to attract large enterprise customers who would initially trial the service using just 10 seats or so before a larger-sized deployment, he said.

Typical deployment size across the board starts with 10 seats … don’t usually rollout initially with massive size deployments.

Intellisync’s Express service is being sold as a subscription through distributors and resellers, as well as directly from the company, for $120 per year for each user when a customer signs a two-year contract.

That compares to a one-off $160-per-user licensing fee to install Intellisync Mobile Suite behind a company’s firewall. Still, the bulk of the cost of e-mail software is IT management expenses, not license fees, said David Shim, Intellisync VP of enterprise markets.

The hosted service is being distributed by software distributed, including Ingram Micro, Global Wireless Data and Trio Tek.

The software supports most mobile devices, including Pocket PC, Palm OS, Symbian OS, Windows Mobile Smartphone and SyncML-compliant devices.

San Jose, California-based Intellisync Intellisync owns a number of patents in push e-mail. For this reason, analyst Bajarin said he does not expect its software would infringe on other company’s patents, such as NTP. (RIM and NTP are embroiled in a lengthy patent-infringement legal spat).