Ads by TechWords

See your link here
Receive the latest technology news and information.
Mobile/Wireless Computing
Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wrap-Up)
Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
The Weekly Top 10
Cloud Computing
View all newsletters




Privacy Policy
 

Editor's Note: Wireless Leaders & Laggards

Some industries are racing ahead with wireless applications.

May 16, 2005 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - I quietly chuckle to myself when someone talks about "the wireless enterprise" as though there's some monolithic definition of what that is. The fact is that wireless applications vary dramatically, depending on whether your organization has workers in hard hats atop utility poles, or nurses gliding between hospital rooms in silent sneakers, or slick traveling salesmen cutting deals in airport lounges.

That's why, in this special report, we've examined how wireless technologies are being applied in five very different vertical industries: health care, government, utilities, manufacturing and financial services. The leaders and laggards among those industries might surprise you. According to the Mobile Plans Index developed by Forrester Research, the financial services industry -- usually a voracious user of emerging technologies -- is among the slowest to adopt mobile IT, while the usually conservative government and health care sectors are well ahead.

To make it an even more complicated matrix, Forrester analyst Carl Zetie says we have to consider the different needs of three types of mobile applications that may be used within the same industry or company: those for field workers, those for roaming information workers, and sensors for asset or inventory management. At the moment, these applications are all sprouting up on an ad hoc basis as "isolated islands of mobile functionality" within the enterprise, Zetie says.

He warns that pretty soon we'll need to figure out how to centrally manage this hodgepodge of wireless applications in order to control costs, avoid incompatible technologies, provide consistent tech support and limit security risks.

See the full report.

Mitch Betts is executive editor of Computerworld. Contact him at mitch_betts@computerworld.com.



Jump to comments

Additional Resources

Xerox
By using solid ink technology only from Xerox, you could save up to 65% by printing color for the cost of black and white. Enter for a chance to WIN a PhaserTM 8860 network color printer!
Microsoft
Save time and mitigate security risk. Deploy it now.
Sybase
In this white paper, IDC analyzes the role of next-generation mobile enterprise platforms as organizations seek a more strategic deployment of mobile solutions.

Learn the important issues you must consider before starting your next mobility initiative. Get your mobility white paper from IDC now, compliments of Sybase.

White Papers & Webcasts

Southern Company
Download Now  

Managing Laptops Outside the Office
Learn how you can reduce costs by tracking mobile computers no matter where they are located.

4G Ahead Video Program
Uncover the features and benefits of the two leading 4G technologies for enterprises considering future deployment.

Case Study: Roughing IT
Download Now