There is no further doubt that the next major wave of networking technology is upon us. It is in the form of wireless LANs, and the extension of the corporate network architecture to mobile data devices, via the new breed of high-speed wireless WAN.

The monumental growth characterizing this segment today is a clear indication that the traditional paradigm will soon not be applicable, and South African businesses in particular must learn to adapt their management mind set to capitalize on the opportunities which working models like the mobilization of the workforce are able to deliver.

Says Jacques van Schalkwyk, regional director for SA at one of the most visible proponents of mobility today -- Intel: ?The trend that we are witnessing out in the marketplace today is a rapid move towards devices connected at all times to digital networks, which bring access to content, whether this information is from the public Internet, or enterprise data from within the corporate network architecture.?

"Although the productivity benefits of mobility alone are a massive cost saver which appeals to business users, from an infrastructure perspective the portability of enterprise connectivity makes for much faster and easier deployment of new services,? comments Van Schalkwyk.

Range extended

This organization has been actively involved in driving the new generation of wireless networking, and, in partnership with Telkom, has been piloting the latest 802.16, or WiMax, medium-range wireless technology in local environments. WiMax extends the maximum range of WiFi connectivity to around 50 kilometers, a step which will further fuel the mobile revolution.

Concludes Van Schalkwyk: ?We have had a communications infrastructure group within Intel for six years now, so none of this is new technology to us. We provide products for every industry which mobility touches, from X-Scale processors in the mobile device itself right through to the carrier infrastructure transporting the packets..?

?What the market is really looking for from a mobile solution is the integration of technology,? says Sadiq Malik, of local VoWLAN specialist BCT Global. ?The glue which will bind wireless networking technologies and mobile solutions together and enable the seamless hand over of a connection from one comms medium to the other. At the moment this is not possible in SA, as mobile service providers have concentrated wholly on the GPRS, 3G and Edge roll-outs, and largely ignored WiFi.?

Single view

The problem with deploying a mixed-technology network such as that envisioned by Malik, comes down to the capabilities of the billing platform, which records usage of each type of connectivity, and presents the customer with a single view of all of his usage. In Europe, mobility giant T-Mobile has deployed just such an integrated networking platform for the benefit of its customer base.

Comments Dr Andrew Hutchison of T-Systems SA: ?In the US market, people were at first sceptical about T-Mobile, traditionally a GSM-based organization, moving into the wireless hotspot arena. But what has happened is that the technology has evolved, and consumers are realizing that you do not need to make an expensive GSM borne call if you are connected to a WLAN anymore. This paradigm shift makes the T-Mobile approach of complementing GSM services with WiFi capabilities very appealing.?

Hutchison sees this bridging of networking technologies as a complete paradigm shift for the mobile providers themselves, who now must consider the alternative wireless communications mechanisms to deliver more effective communications to customers.

?Many of the retail targeted mobile connectivity options are simply not suitable for enterprise adoption today. BlackBerry proves that it is really not about the technology behind the communications channel you use anyway, but the way in which that channel is employed that makes all the difference,? he adds.

Before getting all wrapped up in the hype of new technology, it is worth delving deeper into more traditional mechanisms of mobility in searching for the true value of the model in a business environment.

Says Johan de Villiers, director of Enterprise Connection: ?At Enterprise Connection we provide complete mobile access to enterprise data for our clients, but do not touch WLAN hotspots at all due to their unacceptable limitations. We reviewed the mobility market two years ago when we formulated this decision, and the problems uncovered at that time are still pertinent to the technology as it stands today, including the latest networks like 3G and Edge.?

More mobile solutions targeted at the travelling businessman have similar coverage issues for Enterprise Connection. ?Those based on GPRS or better infrastructures face one flawed assumption, namely that GPRS will be available wherever the user may roam. This is not the case, in Africa only SA and Nigeria have GPRS networks in place. In order to connect to the 3G network, the user must be within 1 km of a 3G-enabled mast, which works in the densely populated countries like the U.K. and Germany, but is less possible in the African environment,? De Villiers adds.

Caveats

He continues: ?Two of the issues surrounding BlackBerry are in my opinion not adequately communicated to the consuming public. The first is that without purchasing a BlackBerry server, users of this service can only receive mail forwarded from their existing mailbox, so all incoming messages are from yourself. And second is the GPRS data rates, which are charged on top of your BlackBerry subscription for every packet of data transmitted.?

In order to avoid these caveats, Enterprise Connection has developed its mobility solution based on good old GSM connectivity, which is claimed to be available in most every global location to which its business users could travel.

?Our two biggest advantages are seamless connectivity -- in that our customers will not be limited by available networks and have access wherever a GSM signal exists, anywhere in the world. And second, lower costs. Our mobile solution takes no more than three minutes to receive the data it needs for mobile productivity after which it disconnects and operations are carried out offline. These three minutes are charged at the rate of any conventional GSM voice call, and not per packet of traffic generated,? continues De Villiers.

Adcheck Mobile also delivers a locally-developed mobile workforce solution which is claimed to be tailored to various vertical industries, using GSM connectivity, and which even supports both Vodacom and MTN?s mobile sales forces.

The Adcheck package is designed to be capable of utilizing GSM or GPRS, depending on what is available, and can be customized to suit most any sales force requiring access to a customer database on the road, the company says.

Amortized

States Ian Hoffman, Adcheck COO: ?Mobility had a nasty little black cloud hanging over its head, in that the costs involved were frequently disproportionate to the business benefit. This is why we went the total solution route. As a result none of our customers pays directly for our software, and the costs are amortized over an extended period by our collective customer base.?

Access infrastructure software provider, Citrix, is currently spearheading its new Presentation Server 4.0 solution with similar goals in mind. Says Chris Norton of the SA arm of this organization: ?To me, a mobility solution must provide the complete desktop experience while on the move, and this is precisely what we deliver with full security and access to all the applications you normally have access to delivered to any manner of mobile device available whatsoever.?

The fishbowl management paradigm which local enterprises today are based on no longer applies in this new environment. Performance of staff members, now that they have the mobility to work as productively while on the move as they do when at the office, must be measured by results, rather than time spent at the office itself.

Wireless and mobile technology will continue to mutate the working enterprise landscape we know today to new and more efficient models. The technology currently available goes a long way in enabling these new strategies, and solutions currently on the horizon will drive this paradigm shift to new heights in the years to come purely by their accessibility.

Rather than being a niche segment of the ICT industry, wireless and mobility has become one of its strongest drivers, and will soon be an essential business strategy. But preparing your enterprise for mobility is more about changing the way in which your organization is comfortable with working, rather than changing the technology underpinning the architecture.