 Wireless in the EnterpriseThis newsletter is sponsored by Meru NetworksNetwork World's Wireless in the Enterprise Newsletter, 10/29/07Selecting the ‘right’ client devicesBy Joanie WexlerAn interesting discussion at last week’s CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment 2007 conference in San Francisco focused on how enterprises should go about selecting end-user devices from the ever-increasing myriad of choices. Conference session moderator Avi Greengart, principal analyst at Current Analysis, suggested answering the following questions as a place to start: * Will devices be used for both end-user business and personal use?
There might be different answers for various users, which can be separated into groups with common requirements. Then you can compare features, operating system, and security supported by the devices that qualify for each group. Andy Willet, senior VP of business development at mobile VPN company NetMotion Wireless, agreed that the degree of ruggedness of a device should be decided early on. He suggested that basing that decision only on the replacement cost of the device might be shortsighted. He says you also need to consider the productivity and revenue losses associated with a device breaking and requiring a day or longer to replace. Willet advised that the initial focus should be on applications, security, and management and that the device should be chosen last to match the infrastructure. What becomes tricky is serving more than one user base with a line-of-business application. In another conference session, Mario Kovacevic, CIO at Canadian commercial real estate company J.J. Barnicke, discussed his company’s success in integrating CRM data sets with dynamically changing property availability and price information. Mobile salespeople with BlackBerry 8830 World Edition Smartphones, the first CDMA-capable BlackBerry able to roam on GSM/GPRS networks, can access “the most important information, not necessarily all information” through a CRM portal, Kovacevic explained. He added that some J.J. Barnicke clients would like to participate in accessing the CRM and property information as a service. When asked how his company accommodates organizations that might be using any number of devices with different screen sizes and connectivity capabilities, Kovacevic acknowledged, “Our clients to date have all had to work with the BlackBerry.”
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| Contact the author: Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology writer/editor in California's Silicon Valley who has spent most of her career analyzing trends and news in the computer networking industry. She welcomes your comments on the articles published in this newsletter, as well as your ideas for future article topics. Reach her at joanie@jwexler.com. This newsletter is sponsored by Meru NetworksARCHIVEArchive of the Wireless in the Enterprise Newsletter. BONUS FEATURE90% of IT Managers are leaving their company at risk for a DNS ATTACK. Get the tools and resources you need to keep your DNS healthy and secure. Run a DNSreport on your domain today - 56 critical tests run in 8 seconds. Visit www.dnsreport.com to learn more. (apply coupon NWW2007NLA for a 25% membership discount) PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICESTo subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007 |
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