InformationWeek

Equally compelling is the proliferation of these devices--a fact that may be too big to ignore. Mobile phones and handheld computers will outnumber notebook and desktop machines by more than 4-to-1 by 2005, according to Gartner Group forecasts, and much of that growth will be among business users.

The Yankee Group estimates there are 45 million mobile workers in the United States, including telecommuters. Until now, cell phones served as the primary wireless method of staying in touch with the home office, but the increased use of E-mail and a heavy reliance on online databases are spurring wireless data and LAN connectivity. "The IT manager has been waiting for a real solution to provide mobile wireless access to corporate employees for some time now," says Phil Redman, the Yankee Group's associate director. "Many users would like to access company databases and servers while mobile," he says. "The only real-time solution is a wireless one." (For more on managing wireless networks, "Plug Into Wireless Management")

Technical advances such as the Wireless Application Protocol--an emerging standard for the delivery of wireless information and telephony services to mobile phones and other wireless appliances--are opening doors for wireless computing at companies. "Some of the major wireless vendors not usually found selling directly to enterprises are presenting WAP-based solutions to extend corporate information to the wireless user," Redman says.

Users with WAP-enabled devices can access a company's intranet that supports WAP, Redman says. An enterprise WAP Internet server can connect to most E-mail, database, or scheduling servers, providing information directly to the users. WAP can also help businesses develop standard wireless, Web applications.

Hewlett-Packard in late February launched its WAP-enabled commerce platform built on HP 9000 Enterprise Servers and HP NetServer systems, running HP-UX and Windows NT. One early adopter is Smith-Gardner & Associates Inc., an E-commerce solutions provider in Delray Beach, Fla. The company is applying WAP technology to its WebOrder Enterprise Edition system to automate entire online retailing operations. Smith-Gardner, in collaboration with HP and Nokia, is deploying the mobile E-commerce technology so online retailers can use wireless devices, such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants. The development was initiated by Smith-Gardner's European subsidiary to address the burgeoning wireless trend in Europe.

Other major vendors such as IBM, Bell Atlantic, and Cisco Systems are bringing out WAP-based products--some jointly developed--even though the technology is still nascent. Redman says there's often little compatibility among WAP browsers and gateways. Unless a company has standardized on one vendor's WAP phone, for instance, and that manufacturer uses the same gateway as another customer or the service provider, the browser won't be able to configure the data, and the information will be rendered unreadable. But vendors want to fix the problems, and more than 300 companies worldwide are committed to the WAP forum. To ensure product interoperability, the forum recently unveiled its product-certification program, where manufacturers can get guidelines on how to test products for compliance to the WAP 1.1 standard suite.

Another challenge is that WAP gear, especially WAP-enabled phones, is still in short supply. Redman says Motorola Inc. is the most aggressive supplier in this area, estimating that 100% of its phones will have browsers by year's end. Nokia and Ericsson, however, are waiting until 2001 before going full-steam ahead with browser phones. "This may cause shortages and a rise in phone prices that have WAP browsers," Redman says.

Other obstacles that have long kept large companies watching wireless developments from the sidelines linger as well. Transmission speeds, now only 9.6 Kbps, are rising, but it will take some time before next-generation systems reach 144 Kbps. High-latency networks and poor customer support persist, too. And security issues also remain as more data is stored or accessed by devices that can be easily lost. Moreover, WAP doesn't come integrated with encryption and nor does it support standard firewall codes or other standard security measures like SecureID. "WAP doesn't offer authentication services beyond simple and breakable PIN systems," Redman says, and additional security will be needed.

In Europe, compatibility isn't a problem because vendors have standardized on the Global System for Mobile Communications as a platform for wireless deployment. GSM, however, is aging and will be eclipsed by General Packet Radio Service and eventually by Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution. Moreover, "GSM networks aren't IP-based and are showing signs of becoming capacity-constrained," says Bob Egan, VP of Gartner Group's mobile and wireless group.

Despite the bumps, many organizations say it's time to roll out wireless technologies to small groups and then expand from there. Palm Inc.'s successful initial public offering in early March shows that Wall Street also has confidence in mobile devices. Palm, formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of 3Com Corp., is on its way to becoming a pervasive standard at large companies such as Delta Air Lines Inc. and Charles Schwab & Co. Palm has about 80% of the market for personal digital assistants, while handhelds running Microsoft's Windows CE operating system account for about 15%. Two weeks ago, Microsoft launched its third iteration of Windows CE to power a new generation of handheld devices, dubbed Pocket PCs, that are smaller and more power-efficient than earlier Microsoft offerings. Pagers are also breaking out of their low-tech status and competing with higher-end handheld devices.

Is it time for your company to cut the cord and try wireless? Read about the experiences of a few leading-edge companies to help you decide.

Elektra Gets Paged Wireless data access is music to John Weaver's ears. Weaver is VP of IT for Elektra Entertainment Group, one of Time Warner Inc.'s record labels. A total of 75 mobile employees at Elektra, along with co-workers from sister divisions Atlantic Records and the Warner Music Group, use Motorola's PageWriter 2000 and 2000X pager devices for two-way, E-messaging communications.

With the PageWriter, users can exchange E-mail, access the Internet, and interface with desktop PCs. The PageWriter runs on Motorola's Flex operating system and can be customized and upgraded with a development kit. The product also supports third-party applications such as Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes.

The wireless devices are divided among IT, the promotions department, and the marketing group. The goal? Have employees share data in real time by forming a virtual community. For example, many of the 30 users in the IT department use the PageWriter to process Internet queries using a freeware product called HZ, an off-the-shelf application from HZ.com. Weaver wants to provide these users with access to other data stored in the company intranet's database.

"We're working to make sales and air-play information accessible wirelessly," says Weaver, including tracking how well records sold in the previous week. Since this information is released by a third-party data provider every Wednesday morning, employees have traditionally logged on to their computers at work for access to this data. Soon, the information will be accessible to label employees wirelessly and remotely. Weaver predicts this kind of remote data access eventually will permeate the organization and lend itself to employees accessing other types of data stored within the company, empowering them to work more effectively, quicker, and to make better decisions than competitors.

Weaver's overall strategy is to offer connectivity to all strategic label information, whether a user is in the office, on the road, at home, or in a hotel. "In the long term, there's the potential for us to use Wireless Application Protocol," Weaver says. "It will come down the line, but

WAP isn't viable for us now because most of our users still view their cell phones as voice devices only."

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