Vertical horizon
Overworked CIOs should refuse to support end users" wireless devices unless the handhelds are for a specific business requirement. And saving hotshot executives a few minutes of their precious time so they can thumb their way through e-mail while waiting in airport security lines isn"t a business requirement.
But don"t start practicing polite but firm ways to say no just yet. That"s because the wireless industry will be unleashing in the coming months and years a slew of vertically focused products designed to deliver true business value and not just gee-whiz convenience.
As a result, handheld wireless devices have the potential to shake the foundation of IT much like PCs did so long ago. Just as the PC disrupted corporate IT by appealing to broad numbers of workers with horizontal software like Excel and Word, wireless systems will similarly discombobulate your department by luring end users with claims that they can solve business-specific application needs.
This means you overworked CIOs are doomed to deal with wireless device proliferation. "No" won"t be in your vocabulary. And you"ll be hearing from your line-of-business peers about the ROI of the wireless applications they want. Real soon, I suspect, if you haven"t already.
According to The Insight Research Corp. in Boonton, N.J., eight vertical markets -- utilities, health care, transportation, communications, wholesale trade, retail trade, durable manufacturing and financial services -- are poised to spend US$7.6 billion in 2006 on wireless data services alone. That figure doesn"t include the billions of dollars spent on the hardware and software designed for those markets. Nor does it include the billions more you"ll spend in your collective budgets to secure and support these myriad devices.
If the handhelds on your horizon merely meant more expense, you wouldn"t have to worry. But they"re much worse.
You"ll be confronting the deployment and management of complex, n-tier applications running on a mix of largely unexplored operating systems. Compounding the problem is the endless array of hardware configurations and suppliers that you"ll get to choose from. Plus, you"ll have to think very carefully about the added information-security burdens. You"ll need to attract new people with wireless skills or train existing staff on new stuff. And you"ll have to cull through an untested crop of consultants to find the gems who know your business and wireless technology.
This will be much, much more than just ordering instant messaging for your sales force from your cell phone service provider. It"s a daunting process, one that might send many a current CIO into early retirement. But hold on.
"Don"t panic," soothes Michael Mace, chief competitive officer at PalmSource in Sunnyvale, Calif. "You don"t need a big wireless strategy now."
He says wireless technology is moving at such a fast pace that it would be unwise to cast your wireless policy in stone today. "Let it evolve," he says.
Mace, whose company develops the Palm operating system for many different wireless handheld makers, thinks you should "pick the low-hanging fruit" inside your company. That means driving wireless deployment programs that do what everybody knows IT does best: automate processes and eliminate paper. Field service staffers, claims Mace, are among your best candidates for wireless tools. Look to buy or develop wireless applications that improve the productivity of expensive workers in the field, reduce their data-entry errors and cut process costs, Mace says. It"s an easy way to become a hero inside the company.
Brian DeMuy agrees. Field services is an ideal place for wireless applications. But "winning user adoption is huge," adds the manager of business development for new markets at Mobile Data Solutions in Richmond, British Columbia. Think through how those end users work. Will they be using devices inside their vehicles or in all kinds of weather? Do they need a ruggedized unit? The hardware"s form factor may be just as important as the software it runs, DeMuy warns. In most cases, the field service staff won"t be nimble-thumbed teenagers. Make sure the data-entry process is dead simple.
One more bit of advice from DeMuy: If you support union workers in the field, don"t try to bypass them. Get the union on board and involved in the device-selection process.
Training will be key, too, agree DeMuy and Mace. Whether you support callous-handed journeymen working atop telephone poles in ice storms or soft-handed heart surgeons, it"s likely that whatever wireless handheld device and application you give them will be a brand-new experience.
You won"t be the only person suffering through the upheaval wireless technology brings. End users will need a lot of hand-holding for their handhelds. Be kind.
Mark Hall is a Computerworld editor at large. Contact him at mark_hall@computerworld.com.