"We have about 60 percent of our workforce not working at fixed offices, so [provisioning and support] is an important issue for us," said as Irving Tyler, CIO at Quaker Chemical Corp. in Conshohocken, Pa. Those workers use a VPN for remote e-mail connections and have access to a Web conferencing tool Quaker implemented for them. The company has also deployed authentication technology for users in the field and locks down their laptops so they can't install unauthorized software.

"To be honest, this is all we've ever needed," Tyler said. "We try to keep things simple, and in general we really don't have many problems."

The IDC study not only looked at the overall growth in the number of mobile workers but also at an expected rise in the demands on those workers -- such as a salesperson who might need to use a wireless device to check a corporate database for immediate availability of products.

Expectations for mobile workers and managers will be higher in the next few years for things such as how quickly an e-mail is answered or how often, Burden said. Fifteen years ago, workers weren't expected to answer e-mails constantly or be connected for continuous availability.

"Now you can no longer use certain excuses," Burden said. "Lawyers have actually told me that they can no longer use the excuse, 'I was in court.' Those kinds of excuses don't fly anymore."