The Untethered Worker
Roaming employees can use wireless LANs for voice calls and high-speed cellular networks for data.
May 17, 2004 (Computerworld) --
Wireless technology -- with its incompatibilities, security holes, dead zones and fuzzy ROI -- has got to be the most immature and frustrating field for IT managers. But it's also the most exciting. Almost every day, there's a new capability, fancier gadget or higher speed -- and technologists eat that stuff up.
In this special report, for example, we cover the new capability to do IP telephony over wireless LANs with gadgets that act like Star Trek communicators. What could be cooler? And carriers are rolling out nationwide, high-speed cellular networks that, eventually, will be a boon to road warriors and mobile data applications.
But as corporate IT folks, you don't get paid to install or support cool toys; you get paid to enhance productivity and the bottom line. (You knew that, right?) That requires some less-than-cool discipline along the following lines:
- Provide the simplest technology that will get the job done.
- Match the technology to the type of work the individual does. Some employees are message-oriented, for example, while others need to fill out forms in the field.
- Avoid chaos by managing costs and devices centrally and establishing company policies. Cell phone bills are already out of control, and the next challenge will be keeping costs for Wi-Fi hot-spot connections in line.
That's what IT
management is all about: selecting technologies that provide business benefits while controlling the costs. If you're lucky, and the ROI is good, maybe you can still get your hands on a
Star Trek communicator.
See the full special report. Mitch Betts is Computerworld
's Features editor. Contact him at mitch_betts@computerworld.com. The Untethered Worker
Stories in this report:
Report Contents
Featured Articles
Getting to know Windows 7? Don't stop now: From speeding up taskbar thumbnails to reining in UAC, here are 20 ways to make Windows 7 act the way you want.
Is Motorola's new Droid good enough to vanquish iPhone envy? To find out, we took it on a 3-day trip.
Sure, you could always use Linux as a desktop OS, but Corel Linux 1.0 was the first distro designed for ordinary users. It's been a long, strange trip since then.
New touch-screen laptops from Fujitsu, HP and Lenovo take advantage of Microsoft Windows 7's touch-friendly infrastructure.
Get the latest news, reviews and more about Microsoft's newest desktop operating system.
General Mills, Genentech, San Diego Gas & Electric, University of Pennsylvania and Monsanto top the list.
|
|
See your link here
or
Other Mobile and Wireless Stories
Computerworld
