August 8, 2005
(Computerworld)
In an April report, Gartner delineated three logical levels of support for handhelds and smart phones, from treating them like PCs to giving them no support at all.
The authors of the report prefer the middle road. "There must be a more tolerated kind of support given users apart from bans or fully supporting them," says analyst and co-author Roberta Cozza.
The tolerated approach gives IT a "safety valve for the inevitable claim from users that there is something better on the market," she notes.
This approach requires that IT do the following:
• Provide data-interface support to personal information manager (PIM) and e-mail applications, as long as the user makes the connection through software selected by his company.
• Select PIM and e-mail synchronization applications that support a wide range of consumer handhelds.
• Provide strict security guidelines and handheld policies, and clearly explain them to users.
• Install security software on a server that enforces a password when a user powers on.
• Encrypt stored data.
• Refuse to purchase devices for the user, answer users' questions about them or develop applications for the handhelds.
Guidelines
• If a company provides handhelds to users, it should clearly state that no application development will be supported, because it would tax IT resources.
• If a company supports development of an unusual custom application, IT should choose the device and support and track it throughout its lifetime, just as it would a desktop or laptop.
• IT managers should set up a "cafeteria" plan under which users can choose from a predefined list of supported hardware and software that includes a budget amount for each selection, based on actual cost or total cost of ownership. Such a plan recognizes that people - even within a workgroup -- have individual needs. The old one-device-fits-all approach "will come under further attacks as the number of technology options for users explodes," Gartner says.