Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Latest News
    • Mobile

    Wireless Enterprise IT Is Here Today

    By
    Peter Coffee
    -
    November 11, 2002
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Companies are deluding themselves if they think they can postpone wireless deployments until the technology is stable and secure. As happened in the 1980s with desktop PCs, employees are driving the process forward, and eWeek Labs has been looking at products that help IT staff support the resulting diversity of wireless wares on company networks for several years now. More recently, industry heavyweights have also come around to this way of thinking.

      In his keynote speech last month at the Pocket PC Summit conference in Los Angeles, Richard Stone, manager for Enterprise Mobility Solutions at Hewlett-Packard Co., said these deployments might happen one employee at a time, but supporting wireless devices is now an imperative, not an option.

      “What are the two things that you do on Monday after your kids talk you into buying a wireless handheld on Saturday? First, you expense it back to the company; second, you show up at your IT guys office door and say, Make this work with the company e-mail,” said Stone. “The majority of handheld devices are chosen by employees, even if not necessarily paid for by the employee.”

      Companies have to get a grip on the resulting issues of security and management today and be prepared to deal with the resulting heterogeneity for years to come, he continued.

      When enterprise sites are trying to defer a wireless deployment, Stone said, its typically because of concerns about rapidly changing standards, integration with other enterprise network services and doubts about return on investment. He suggested that the wireless standards war is over, adding, “If I can go into Frys and find it on special, its an industry standard; if its under $150, its a pervasive industry standard. That makes 802.11b a pervasive industry standard.”

      On the software side, Stone promised HPs continued compatibility with current iPaq devices in a commitment to Microsoft Corp. technologies for the handheld and the Web services platform. Echoing other recent HP statements committing the company to Microsofts .Net, Stone called it the “open, nonproprietary” services framework and suggested that both Sun Microsystems Inc. and IBM were favoring their own proprietary solutions for Web services.

      Stone promised that HP would be addressing other enterprise concerns with features such as “guest printing” support from wireless handhelds and with high levels of functional integration. (This to quiet the often-voiced complaint about whats been called the “Batmans belt” look of the modern worker carrying multiple devices.)

      Standing in front of drawings bearing prominent labels of “CONCEPT ONLY” and resolutely refusing to comment on unannounced products, Stone nevertheless suggested that customers might soon see a fusion of the iPaq and Research In Motion Ltd.s BlackBerry into a single handheld e-mail terminal and Internet portal device.

      “The evolution of the iPaq,” said Stone, “will include wireless LAN, wireless WAN and Bluetooth.” It will include a removable battery, he said, mentioning one of the differences thats made HPs Jornada (soon to be phased out) preferable to the iPaq for some buyers; it will also provide faster processors, better displays and integrated biometric identification such as fingerprint scanning to mitigate the security risks of wireless devices that have access to enterprise networks. “170,000 devices are left on public transportation in the United States every year,” he said.

      Wireless penetration is more than a matter of technology; telecommunications carriers business models are also important factors, Stone said. Voice traffic, he added, is the carriers crown jewel, and they will not threaten voice service to provide data bandwidth. The more wireless infrastructure gets built by other parties, as on enterprise or academic campus networks or in retail facilities such as coffee shops, the sooner users will enjoy pervasive access.

      Technology Editor Peter Coffee can be reached at peter_coffee@ziffdavis.com.

      Peter Coffee
      Peter Coffee is Director of Platform Research at salesforce.com, where he serves as a liaison with the developer community to define the opportunity and clarify developers' technical requirements on the company's evolving Apex Platform. Peter previously spent 18 years with eWEEK (formerly PC Week), the national news magazine of enterprise technology practice, where he reviewed software development tools and methods and wrote regular columns on emerging technologies and professional community issues.Before he began writing full-time in 1989, Peter spent eleven years in technical and management positions at Exxon and The Aerospace Corporation, including management of the latter company's first desktop computing planning team and applied research in applications of artificial intelligence techniques. He holds an engineering degree from MIT and an MBA from Pepperdine University, he has held teaching appointments in computer science, business analytics and information systems management at Pepperdine, UCLA, and Chapman College.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×