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Computerworld - In offices, airports and even homes, Wi-Fi technology is rapidly gaining acceptance as the network connection of choice for many mobile applications. Easy and cost-effective to set up, maintain and change with the dynamic needs of an organization, Wi-Fi empowers employees to move freely and work collaboratively anywhere within the range of a wireless LAN or public "hot spot."

The effect can be seen in jobs across the health care, government, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, transportation and other industries. With wireless access to enterprise data and applications, waiters, loading dock employees, inventory-takers, health care professionals, hotel event managers and other workers no longer have to rely on tedious, error-prone paper-based systems.

And as telecommunications companies install more hot spots and public wireless access points, mobile workers such as sales representatives, utility and maintenance crews, and government inspectors will have access to more timely information, especially in areas where wide-area wireless networks aren't an option because of cost, signal availability and performance issues.

The idea of automating these workers is compelling: Wi-Fi applications offer the same access to information as typical wired applications, but without the mobility limitations of wires. So companies can benefit from increased employee productivity and morale, the ability to provide better customer service, more timely and accurate data exchange, and reduced costs.

Top Wi-Fi Application Development Considerations

Once they've recognized the benefits that wireless technology can bring to workers and the bottom line, most organizations carefully evaluate the many flavors of 802.11 connectivity options.

What's often overlooked (and perhaps even more critical) is an equally careful plan for application development. After all, it's the "what" of the application user experience rather than the "how" of wireless connectivity that will most closely affect users each day.

To take advantage of the opportunities created by Wi-Fi for point-of-activity computing, it's important to understand the unique needs of your application's users. Mobile field service workers, salespeople and professionals and on-premises users working in departments within larger organizations, remote branch offices or small to midsize businesses have common characteristics.

Usually, they have minimal access to resources, including limited or zero on-site technical support as well as limited budget and hardware. However, once they have Wi-Fi access, their appetite for enterprise-class functionality and information-sharing capabilities will quickly rival that of wired users.

Here are the top four areas that developers must consider:

1. Roaming Between Hot Spots
   
   
   
   • Remember that your employees need to be productive with corporate information anywhere, anytime -- even when beyond the range of a Wi-Fi hot spot. It's important to design a system for always-available access that combines local data storage of information on the device with the ability to synchronize when back inside wireless coverage or by other means from remote sites.
   
   
   • Even while in range of a corporate, public or home Wi-Fi access point, mobile workers may find it necessary to work in disconnected mode in order to preserve scarce battery power or save on airtime costs. Use an always-available application architecture that will work in disconnected mode so your mobile workers can keep working in the office, on the road or at home.
   
   


2. Ease of Use
   
   
   
   • Remember that your users may be nontechnical and using this technology for the first time. Your application needs to be easy to use and tailored for workers' needs. For example, features such as one-button synchronization or graphical pull-down menus minimize typing and improve the user experience. If the technology gets in the way of workers doing their jobs, the application will be quickly abandoned in favor of pen-and-paper methods.
   
   
   • Match hardware considerations carefully with the needs of the application, evaluating the appropriate drop factor, battery life, memory requirements or special features like bar-code scanning. For example, a field worker completing inspections won't need the same device as a sales representative on the road. Buy a device well suited to your users' needs, and you will improve productivity with a lower total cost of ownership; buy an inappropriate device, and constant repairs, user frustration and a poor return on investment could be the result.
   
   
   • Implement a system that enables users to connect to corporate resources in a variety of ways, including Wi-Fi, wide-area wireless or wireline options such as cradle synchronization. Salespeople, inspectors, service personnel and other mobile workers need the flexibility to smoothly and securely move among a variety of connection methods in order to synchronize data. Mobile employees can also stay in touch and on top of important meetings, calls and deadlines anywhere, anytime.
   
   



3. Ease of Administration
   
   
   
   • Given limited on-site IT resources, choose software and database technology that runs seamlessly on the mobile device. Your goal should be to choose technology that will remain invisible to the worker and run without user intervention or troubleshooting.
   
   
   • For overall IT administration, you can simplify deployment and support -- and reduce costs -- by adopting a centralized management strategy. Leverage automated central software distribution to save your users the time and complication of having to download their own files. In addition, centralized inventory and asset management is a must for your IT administrators to understand what hardware and software is installed and currently deployed to mobile workers, for example, to ensure compliance with the number of seat licenses you've purchased for a given application.
   
   
   • Since application and systems configuration problems are among the most common causes of support calls as well as security breaches, use centralized management software to enforce application and system configuration settings to comply with your corporate security standards. You can also schedule and push out new operating system and antivirus updates.
   
   
4. Security
   
   
   
   • Wireless LANs and local hot spots can be accessed by unwelcome users unless proper security measures are taken. It's important to remember that application files may contain confidential business information and must be protected whether it's located on a PC in the office or a handheld device in the field.
   
   
   • Leverage strong 128-bit communications encryption to protect the confidentiality and integrity of data packets as they pass between the client device and the server.
   
   
   • Incorporate local data encryption and authentication to protect information even if the device is lost.
   
   

The Bottom Line
The benefits of Wi-Fi-enabled applications on worker productivity, customer service, operational efficiency and ROI can be significant. Whether your plan is to automate five users or thousands, the key point is not to let the benefits of Wi-Fi technology pass you by.

Martyn Mallick is a product manager at iAnywhere Solutions Inc, where he focuses on the development of products that let mobile users work regardless of network availability. He speaks regularly at seminars and industry conferences and holds a bachelor of science degree in systems and computing engineering from the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario.

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