SyncML is a standard defined by the Open Mobile Alliance which can be broken down into to two distinct parts - Data Synchronisation (SyncML DS) and Device Management (SyncML DM)

SyncML DS is concerned with the protocols necessary for disparate devices to perform synchronisation of various forms of data elements. Logically synchronisation takes place between two entities one which acts as the client and while the other acts as the server. Client implementations of SyncML are a lot simpler than server implementations.

SyncML DM is concerned with the protocols necessary for devices to be configured remotely by a server application. This standard shares the same basic structure as SyncML DS however some of the elements used are different. The standard allows for the server to query the device and to update the device where necessary with different settings. In addition tasks such as device software can be upgraded

Both protocols are XML based. Generally for efficiency XML SyncML messages are encoded in a WBXML stream.

For more detailed information on SyncML please see the SyncML specifications on the Open Mobile Alliance web site.