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An IT Briefing produced by

Managing the Mobile User -- Best Practices for Technology and People


By Craig Mathias

© 2009 Craig Mathias

BIO

Craig Mathais is a Principal with FarPoint Group, a wireless and mobile advisory firm based in Ashland, Mass. Craig is an internationally recognized expert on wireless communication and mobile computing technology, and has published numerous technical and overview articles on a variety of topics.

This IT Briefing is based on an Orange Business Services/TechTarget Webcast, “Manag-ing the Mobile User -- Best Practices for Technology and People.”

This TechTarget IT Briefing covers the following topics:• The Era of Infocentricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1• Objectives for Contemporary Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2• The Competitive Advantage of Mobile IT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2• The Future of IT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4• Defining a Mobile IT Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5• Management Systems are Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5• Scalability: Networks Only Grow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7• Mobile Devices: Key Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8• The Single-Device Imperative -- and Paradox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8• Managing Mobile Teams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10• Think ROI, Not Cost Alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12• Focus on Operating, not Capital, Expense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13• Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Copyright © 2009 Craig Mathias. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction, adaptation, or translation without prior written permission is prohib-ited, except as allowed under the copyright laws.

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Mobility has become increasingly importantand popular across industries, enterprises,and governments around the world. Indeed,mobility is the future of IT. But regardless ofyour industry or location, there are key issuesfelt by anyone trying to manage mobility. Tobegin with, companies struggle to define amobile IT strategy. They tend to start with thetechnology and work backwards from there,trying to solve business problems. They alsohave a hard time identifying the right set oftools for managing mobile IT. There aremany options available, but finding the rightone is imperative. Then there is the issue ofhuman resource management. How do youensure that mobile workers are contributingto a team? And, last but not least, companiesstruggle with managing cost and ROI.

The purpose of this IT Briefing is to help youovercome these common hurdles toimplement a mobile strategy that will putyour company where it needs to be, and thatis following all the issues that relate to ITgoing forward.

The Era of Infocentricity

I got my start in the early 70s on an IBMmainframe. Back then we were in what I liketo call a ‘compu-centric’ era. We were lookingat a very primitive computing environmentwith custom applications, but the bottom

line is that the computer mattered. You couldhave big families of computers, like the IBM360, but your program might only run on oneor two models within that line because youhad to tie it directly to the hardware. The PCchanged all that and we ended up with moreof a standard platform; not because theoperating system was standardized, butbecause the applications were standardized.

Today, most organizations run MicrosoftOffice or a similar suite of applications. Sincethe early 90s, we’ve thought about officesuite and office functionality as defining whatIT is all about. That's okay, as long as youhave a PC, but now we are moving into an erawhere not everybody has a PC or at least nota PC that they carry with them all the time. Icall this the ‘info-centric’ era because wefocus our IT plans and strategies aroundinformation rather than the computer.

In this info-centric era, information matters.We can start to think about Web services,and remote access using Linux and thinclients. We can think about real anytime,anywhere access. The theme is one ofcontinuous connectivity. If we can get accessto the Internet, to the Web specifically, orother wireless channels, and we havemechanisms within the IT infrastructure toget us into the corporate data center, we haveaccomplished the goal that I mentioned atthe beginning: We have mobilized IT.

IT Briefing:Managing the Mobile User -- Best Practices for Technology and People Sponsored By:

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Objectives for ContemporaryMobility

If we are going to mobilize IT, we need a setof objectives that we can organize around. Iwould argue that today the objective forcontemporary mobility and wireless networkis to minimize -- not to eliminate -- thebehavioral or performance differences thatexist between wireline and wirelesscapabilities. It used to be that wireline wasmuch faster, it cost a lot less, and was whateverybody used. Wireless to a great degreehas caught up with wireline. Good datathroughput on a continuous basis is oftenachievable, depending on where you are. Weare able to access applications and data,some of them running locally on the handset,which is functionally duplicating what a PCprovides, and some of them runningremotely in a Web services model. Bottomline though, wireless can really do anythingthat wire can do, and you don’t have to lookfor a place to plug in.

So now we are completely location-independent as long as we have coverage,and coverage continues to improve on aglobal basis. We can start to think about thevirtual office. Why come to the office just touse IT resources, when they are available toyou in a handset? And here again we aretalking about any application. Applicationsare increasingly network-centric. We simplyextend that broadband network over wirelessto where these employees happen to be. Weprovide them with an appropriate computingplatform on that mobile device, and now we

can basically do anything that we want. Ithink the whole concept of Web services andcloud computing is going to dominate ourthinking going forward as these networksbecome more available and indeed as weproceed towards ubiquity in terms of mobilebroadband.

If we have all this, we can extend our mobileuser base beyond the traditional verticalmarket, field services, and sales, and otherapplications where specific devices andapplications have been written in the past.We can really start thinking about mobilizingeveryone. That's the theme that I want toleave you with today; that we are talking notabout specialized applications or specializedsituations but services available to anybody.

The Competitive Advantage ofMobile IT

Now, why would you want to do this? Theonly competitive advantage remaining todayfor any business, irrespective of whatindustry you’re in, irrespective of where youreside on this planet, is the ability to obtainand act on information ahead of yourcompetition. No matter what business you’rein, whether it's manufacturing, whetheryou’re in sales, whether you’re a serviceprovider, whether you sell software or awidget, it doesn’t make any difference. Yourability to get information into the hands ofpeople who need that information, andenable them to act on and interact with thatinformation before the competition can iswhat's going to make a difference in terms of


3 IT Briefing:Managing the Mobile User -- Best Practices for Technology and People Sponsored By:

Core Objectives for Contemporary Mobility• Minimize, if not eliminate, the behavioral and

performance differences that exist between wireline and wireless capabilities• Throughput• Reliability/Availability• Access to applications and data

• Wireless can do anything that wire can do, and without the need to find a place to plug in• Location-independence, virtual office, …• Any application

• And applications are increasingly network-centric• Web services/cloud computing/etc.

• Extending mobile user base beyond service, sales, vertical markets, etc.

The Future of IT…• …is in mobility• Want to reach someone? Call their cell phone!• Access to the Internet is just as important as

access to telephony• E-mail, the Web, remote access, remote control, …• Mobilizing all enterprise IT services and capabilities

• Wireless as the default or even primary vehicle• Advances in technologies, standards, networks, devices• All applications

• Carrier 3G services offer great coverage and throughput

• As with wire (and just about everything else in business), the key is management• Maximize productivity – ease of use, transparency• Reduce costs – support, network usage, etc.• Manage IT integrity – enforce usage policies and security

Figure 1

Figure 2

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business success. Some people call thisInternet time. In my way of thinking, it's justa natural evolution of business as it becomesmore and more dependent upon IT andinformation resources. So that should be agood motivator for you to start thinkingabout mobilizing people. If they are out andabout, working with customers directlyinvolved in business activities, they needaccess to your network, they need access toIT resources, and they need to do it fasterthan the competition can. That's going to bethe differentiator.

The Future of IT

The future of IT is in mobility. If you want toreach somebody, for example, you don’t calltheir office phone. You call their cell phonebecause no one is ever at their office phoneanymore. You've probably discovered at thispoint that access to the Internet is becomingjust as important as access to telephony. Sonow we are talking about a cell phone notjust as a voice handset, but a tool thatenables access to e-mail, the Web, remoteaccess to your network, and remote controlof PCs that are located in the office. All of thisfunctionality is on a handset, mobilizingenterprise IT services and capability.

What we have discovered is that wireless israpidly becoming a default or even primaryvehicle for access today. A lot of people havedropped their landlines and only use cellphones, and an increasing number of thoseare using those devices for Web access, andother forms of IT access and services on aregular basis.

This has been made possible by tremendousadvances in basic wireless technologies, fromthe devices themselves to carrier broadbandservices, which have gotten so much faster,so much more available, and so much morecost effective. We are now seeing support foressentially all applications. I can't think ofanything that you can’t do in this highlymobile environment. Carrier 3G services havegreat coverage and throughput. I am sayinggreat -- not outstanding -- because it is still awork in progress. There are a lot of carriersspending a vast amount of money onbuilding out their network and enhancingthose services, and they will continue to doso.

We are rapidly going to be progressing intothe 4G era. So you are again going to seeanother tremendous leg up in terms of thetype of capability that’s available. If you arean IT operations person, network planner, oroperations planner of any form, you can startto think about these wireless networks astruly being mission critical. Now, as witheverything else in business and IT today, thekey is management. We need to focus on amanagement strategy for mobile IT resourcesthat maximizes productivity for ease of use,transferring access to resources, and all ofthe other things that keep the helpdesk linefrom ringing off the hook. You certainly wantto reduce cost, not so much the cost toacquire a new handset or even monthlycharges for services, but to hold down thecost of using those services. We’re looking atlowering operational expenses by managingthe integrity of IT and forcing usage policyand security. A good management


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infrastructure can address that with very littletrouble.

Defining a Mobile IT Strategy

Defining a mobile IT strategy is similar to thereasoning that a reporter might use. You’regoing to ask yourself: Who? How? Where?When? What?

To begin, ask yourself who actually needs tobe mobilized. Are we talking about a lot ofpeople in the organization? Are we talkingabout certain sales and service people, whichhas traditionally been the case? How mobiledo I really need to be? That will increase overtime. Even if you start with a smallpopulation within the organization,eventually anybody who interacts withcustomers or who is involved in operationswill want to be mobilized.

The next question, of course, is where. Somepeople, like myself, are constantly travelinginternationally. We need coverage basicallyeverywhere. That will involve one strategy.Some people are just locally mobile, say in abuilding or campus environment. That willinvolve another kind of strategy. But ingeneral you want all these people to haveaccess to resources wherever they happen tobe.

The next question is when. Not everybodyneeds to be mobile all of the time, andgenerally the way you make a decision here isby what I call the time value of information. Ifyou are dealing with information that can sitfor a few hours and users don’t have to act on

it, maybe they sync up just once a day, thatdefines one mobile communication strategy.If, on the other hand, your users are infinance or investments and they needmoment-by-moment updates on complexinformation, perhaps they need analytics andneed to be able to respond, then that's adifferent kind of access that will be required.

Finally, there is the question of what. Whatinformation and applications need to bemobilized? How should we implement thatmobility? Should we have applicationsrunning on a particular mobile device,somewhere in the cloud, or somewhere onthe enterprise network and access them viaWeb services? Should the data be storedlocally or remotely? How do we do caching?

These are the kinds of things that you want tokeep in the back of your mind when defininga mobile IT strategy. Some of them aredefinitely technical concerns but they will allhelp you frame an overall mobile strategy.

Management Systems are Key

IT management systems are the key to asuccessful mobile IT strategy. Onephenomenon that I think you will absolutelyagree with is that networks only grow overtime. No one ever says a year after doing amajor network upgrade, “Gee, we bought toomuch and we really shouldn’t have done thisor done that.” The bottom line is that nomatter what you do, you are going to see anuptake in demand for network services.


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Figure 3

You’re going to need to scale quitedramatically over time. So when you start toput together a management strategy, don’tthink about just the problems you’re trying tosolve today. Think about the problems youwill have throughout the lifecycle of yourinstallation. However, having said that,complexity really is the enemy. I have seenmany enterprises where the operationalsystems are so complex the operationprofessionals have a hard time dealing withthem. You want to always simplify.

The next element you must have in an ITmanagement system is centralized control ofpolicy management. This is very important,because we want an object-orientedapproach to declining the services that areavailable to a particular user. We want to be

able to say that a given user should use thiskind of a service at this time of day, with thisdegree of priority. We want to prevent peoplefrom using services that are too expensivewhen a cheaper alternative is available, andwe want to automate policy enforcement.This includes security management. Youwant to make sure that users are only settingup secure connections and that they are notviolating security policies.

Management solutions must be transparentto users. No one is going to sit down andcrack a 200-page manual. So solutions haveto be easy to use and effective without gettingin the way, and this often involves a fairamount of research before you settle on asolution, but it needs to be the overridingprinciple. Bottom line to mission success

IT Management Systems are Key

• Networks only grow• Complexity is the enemy• Centralized control via policy management is

the preferred strategy• Automation of policy enforcement – including

security• Solutions must be transparent to users

• Easy to use and effective without getting in the way• Mission success – and the bottom line –

depend upon having the right wireless and mobility management solutions• Will be a key product differentiator going forward


7

Figure 4

and the real bottom line depend upon havingthe right wireless and mobility managementsolutions.

Many people are not familiar with what goesinto actually operating a large networksolution and when we start to add mobilityinto the mix, we add the potential foradditional complexity. So, we are finding nowthat a number of firms out there, both theequipment providers and third-partymanagement software providers, are lookinginto building ever more capable and easy-to-use management solutions. I think that themanagement capabilities of networkproducts will become the differentiator goingforward. That’s something you definitelywant to look at as you are selecting yourparticular network solution.

Scalability: Networks OnlyGrow

Networks only grow over time, and they doso in several dimensions as illustrated inFigure 4. For example, the overall capacity ofyour solution will have to grow over time asmore mobile users come online. As thenumber of users increases, the trafficvolumes will increase, and the transmit dutycycles -- how often you are sending data overthe air -- will also increase. Requirements fortime-boundedness becomes a key element insetting up a solution as we begin to domobile Voice over IP and real-time streamingvideo. Making sure that you are managing forcoverage and scalable growth and that you or

Scalability: Networks (of any form) Only Grow…

NumberOf Users

TrafficVolumes

TransmitDutyCycles

Number ofApplications

Time-Boundedness

Coverage/Scalable Growth

Capacity

Source: Farpo int Group

Ever-GrowingDemands

on Wireless(and wired)Networks

ReliabilityTCO/ROI


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your carrier are looking at where coverage willbe required in the future so that you are notleft high and dry as you begin to expand intonew geographic areas is also important. Thenumber of applications will increase, and thedemands for reliability will increase. No wiredor wireless position is ever perfect, but theyneed to be close to perfect if we are going tobe productive with them.

Mobile Devices: Key Options

Now let’s talk about mobile devices. Over thepast few years we have seen laptopcomputers become standard issue. Hardlyanyone uses a desktop computer anymore. Icall this mobilizing the desktop. You’retaking the same capability you used to have astationary computer for and sending it on theroad with everyone.

Well, there is a lot of cost associated withdoing that. Laptops require an operatingsystem and software licenses, and they’reexpensive to operate. The biggest problemthough from a mobility perspective is it’s justtoo big. Most laptop computers weigh on theorder of five pounds or more, and then youneed all the associated stuff, like cables andpower supplies. A popular strategy has beento augment the desktop. The Apple iPhone isobviously a popular example, but there aremany devices that can fill that role. The basicidea is there are a lot of daily tasks that don’trequire a big screen; for example, limitedWeb browsing, e-mail, and other personalproductivity tasks can easily be done on oneof these mobile devices. A popularmechanism for dealing with information on

them is to synchronize them with acomputer. So, we are still pretty much tied tocomputer.

Where we are going I think is the redefinitionof, or the virtualization of the desktop.Consider, for example, the Asus Eee PC.Many models run Linux, they have a FireFoxbrowser, a very simple operatingenvironment, and it’s easy to use. I generallytravel with one of these now, and I can geteverything done that I need to get done. I canrun an office suite on it, I have good remoteaccess capabilities through the browser, andjust about anything that I need to do I have ata very low price. The maintenance cost wefound on these is incredibly low. If you beginto move more and more applications ontothe network, but you don’t have to keepupdating the mobile computingenvironment, mobile IT is no more complexto implement than a stationary IT strategywhere applications are running on servers.

The Single-Device Imperative– and Paradox

Now, if we look at these devices in moredetail, we discover something very important.We call it the single-device imperative, andit’s followed by something that’s called thesingle-device paradox. Wireless networkservices are converging. They are based onIP, are more than a megabit per secondtoday, with three-to-five megabytes persecond available in the wide area down theroad. So, we are definitely seeing conversionthere, but we are seeing just the opposite in


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handsets. We are not seeing a single handsetbecome the most popular. Not everybody isbuying an iPhone. Not everybody usesWindows Mobile. There are so many differentbrands and models. And again, these aregeographic specific. There are literally morethan a 1,000 handset models availablearound the world at any given moment intime, and each one has its own particular setof features, user interface capabilities,software capabilities, and operatingenvironments.

Meanwhile, we want it all, and we want it allin one device. Nobody wants to carry morethan one handset if they don’t have to. That’swhy we call it a single-device imperative.There is definitely a demand for a singledevice that can literally do it all. But what I’vefound over the course of several decades isthat it’s impossible to do. There are justsimply too many conflicting goals. No singlehandset design is going to win. Continuinginnovation, after all, is essential to theindustry. They want you to buy a new handsetevery six months or year, based on what yourcontract will allow. But you can expect thereto be a lot of different form factors andoperating environments available. For thoseof you who are following the evolution ofLinux, I think that’s going to be the winner onmobile devices. More importantly, givenadvances in browsers, mobile operatingenvironments, remote access and such, Ithink thin clients are really going to becomethe standard for most people within a fewyears. So we are talking about Web andcloud-based execution as opposed to localexecution. And again with mobile device

management, we can extend operationalintegrity all the way to the edge of thenetwork. So, we should be able to come upwith a strategy that will work quite well, nomatter which device we choose.

That being said, my advice is to limit thenumber of devices that you ultimately deploy.I have talked to many IT staffs, who say,“Well, the CEO brought his shiny new iPhonein and told me I have to put it on thenetwork.” The correct answer to requests likethat should normally be no. You want tomake sure that you can support thesedevices, and that you understand all of thesecurity and operational risks that go alongwith having any new devices on your network.Limiting the number of devices to just a fewwill make this easier. If you have a largedeployment, support just two or threedifferent models of handsets across thethousands or tens-of-thousands of users. Itwill make life a lot easier for you down theroad.

To illustrate this single-device paradox in alittle more detail, consider all the conflictingelements available. Styling, for example, is amajor factor in the purchase of cell phones.You might not think so from an enterpriseperspective, but it is. Users take into accountsize. They want devices to be as small aspossible to make them easier to carry, with asbig of a screen as possible. You certainlydon’t want it to weigh very much, but as weput more and more functionality into it,making it lighter increases the price. Puttingmore functionality into it also tends to lessen


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Figure 5

battery life. We see incremental refinementsto improving battery life, but that will alwaysbe a key limiting factor. We want thesedevices to be stylish, but we also want themto be rugged. Too many phones fail whenthey are simply dropped for the first time. Wedon’t want them to cost too much, but wewant all this functionality and capabilities likecameras and video recording. You run into aproblem where you have, from amathematical sense anyway, more variablesthan you do equation. There is simply no wayto solve this with a single device, and that’swhy we are continuing to see diversity.

You do have a lot to choose from in thisspace, and that's the good news. There isabsolutely a product out there for everyone.Finding it, evaluating it, integrating it,

supporting the management elements, that'sgoing to be the key issue.

Managing Mobile Teams

Now, I want to shift gears a little bit and talkabout managing people. This is a verycomplex topic for an a lot of managers outthere today. Mobility changes our wholerelationship with work. Work is somethingyou do; it's not necessarily a place that yougo. This has been easy to accept and easy tounderstand for people that are fundamentallyin the field all the time -- sales people, servicepeople, etc. But when we start to talk aboutvirtualizing a workforce, it all gets it verycomplex in terms of how to manage thepeople aspect. Managing mobile workers

The Single-Device Paradox

Samsung Omnia

Samsung Saga

StylingSizeWeightBattery LifeRuggednessCostOther functionality (cameras, MP3, ?)Etc.

Operating environment/APIUser InterfaceApplication Software(including browser)Etc.

Source: Farpoint Group

BlackBerry Bold

BlackBerry Storm


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though is very much aligned withcontemporary management thought. We nolonger think about workers and bosses; wethink about worker empowerment. We thinkabout managers as the people who providethe resources and who handle the problemsand carry the water for their workers; notthose who simply bark orders and say do it oryou’re fired. There is no reason to have thatvery close physical coupling of workers andmanagers anymore if we understand that wehave got this more empowered worker anddecentralized operations perspective.

One problem we have seen is the tendencyfor some managers to refer to their staff as“my people.” This phrase is usually a red flag.These are people that have an issue withcontrol. They need the resources in front ofthem all the time. Unfortunately, that doesn’twork well in a mobile environment. You haveto be willing to let go and accept that noteverybody is going to come into the officeevery day.

Similarly, there is a burden that's placed onthe mobile worker. A high degree of self-discipline is required in order to besuccessful in that environment. Some peopleworking from home, for example, have atendency to wander outside to check theweather three times a day and maybe seewhat's in the refrigerator more often thannecessary. Users need to disciplinethemselves to deliver what they havecommitted to deliver even though they arenot in a traditional work environment.

I like to use the term “management bycommitment” to describe a workenvironment that is supported by mobile IT.Management by commitment occurs whengoals and checkpoints are establishedbetween management and employees toensure tasks are completed and everyonestays in sync. This has worked well for methroughout my career, and mobility is nolonger an issue. It is very easy to make surethat things are getting done.

Management by commitment leads toresource-based rather than location-basedrelationships. In other words, people look atone another within the organization asresources, even though they are not directlyin front of one another every day. I suggestusing Web based conferencing tools, such asvideo conferencing, to provide “face time.”These technologies have become much lessexpensive, and they work quite well. There arepossibilities for abuse in any of thesetechnologies, but in general we can create avery close relationship among people whoare distributed over great distances. We wantto enable enough time together bothelectronically and in person so that they getto know one another, become friends, andbuild trust. Communication is key. Inaddition, people in the field need to believe,understand, and depend upon support andother help services that are provided to themby people who are in a traditional officeenvironment.

If you do all of this, you will find that mobilityis a real asset. Like I said, getting people infront of customers, in front of suppliers, out


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Figure 6

where the action is, is absolutely critical tosuccess, and keeping them connected andinformed and in communication with theresources that they need is going to be IT'smission from this point forward.

Think ROI, Not Cost Alone

I have seen many wireless projects getderailed before they even get started becausethe CFO looks at the amount of money that isgoing to be involved and says we can't affordit. Too many projects are analyzed simply onthe basis of cost alone. The real issue,however, is not what you spend; it's what youget back, as with any other investment. If youare going to spend a dollar and get nothingback for it, I can certainly understand not

spending the dollar. However, if you aregoing to spend a dollar and get $10 back, youare not really spending it; you are investing it.That’s why we need to look at return oninvestment.

Generally when I work on projects like this Isit down with all of the involved parties -- IT,key users, and the financial people -- and welook at cost and cash relation. Now what is arealistic cost? What's it going to be overtime? Remember, you need a plan for growth.How much is it actually costing on a cash-flow basis? Do you have or can you get themoney, and how much will it cost to do that?

The next thing to do is to arrive atopportunity costs, which is loosely defined asthe next best alternative. Now normally that’s

Think ROI, Not Cost Alone• Too many projects are analyzed only on cost…• But the real issue is return on investment (ROI)• Recommended algorithm

• Evaluate cost and cash flow issues• Do you have/can you get the money?

• Evaluate opportunity cost (best alternative)• Build business case and quantify ROI• If the return can be demonstrated over an acceptable time frame,

then buy• Support the minimal number of networks and subscriber units• But remember to plan for growth!

• ROI analysis can include soft-dollar elements, like productivity

• Consider the time value of information• How long someone can be “out of the loop”


13

Figure 7

doing nothing. You won't mobilize yourworkers. You won't implement a mobilestrategy. As a result, you will be operating at adisadvantage with respect to thecompetition, so the opportunity cost can bevery high if you don’t do this. We do anevaluation and analysis based on that. We areequipped now to build a business case as towhy this is a good direction to go, and we canbegin to quantify a return on investment. Ifreturn on investment can be demonstratedover an acceptable timeframe, then it is agood time to buy.

When calculating costs, keep in mind thatyou want to support the minimal number ofnetworks in terms of carrier networks andsubscriber units, so that your support costsdon’t go through the roof. And, again,

remember to plan for growth. Now keep inmind also that return on investment analysiscan include soft-dollar elements likeproductivity. It's often very difficult toevaluate productivity, but that is a key a factorin all of this. And again the time value ofinformation comes into play here. You don’twant to give a user who only needs to sync uponce a day top of the line tools.

Focus on Operating, notCapital, Expense

The bottom line is we want to focus onoperating costs and not capital costs. Capitalexpense is where people generally spendmost of their time thinking about an IT

Focus on Operating, Not Capital, Expense

CapitalExpense(CapEx)• Hardware• Software• Planning• Installation

OperatingExpense(OpEx)• Management• Maintenance• Repair• Training• Support

Total Costof Ownership(TCO)

• Cash Flow• Opportunity Cost• Return on Investment(ROI)

Source: Farpoint Group

Getting the bestdeal on equipment

Getting the bestdeal on service

Managing coststhrough pol icyenforcement

OpEx > CapEx


14

Figure 8

solution. But that’s a relatively small piece ofthe cost. What really gets to you is theoperating expense. The ongoingmanagement of the network, mobile devicemanagement, maintenance, repair, training,support helpdesk, etc., require much morethought than the capital expense side of thepicture. It is almost trivial these days to comeup with the cost to get started. However, thecost to keep rolling needs to be thoughtthrough very carefully because over time theoperating expense is going to be far greaterthan the capital expense.

On the other hand, do consider where youcan reduce other costs, particularlyinfrastructure costs such as real estate bymobilizing people to a greater degree. Ifsomebody is always out in the field, they

don’t need to have an office. And you don’tneed to support them from an IT perspectivewhen they are in the office. Think aboutinformation, and network and Web services,not just PCs. After all, we call it IT and youneed to put information first.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I’d like to state that mobilityshould be at the core of your IT strategygoing forward. If you solve your mobile ITproblem, you have solved your overallenterprise IT problem. Operations are goingto become increasingly distributed, and yourIT infrastructure needs to be increasinglydistributed exactly the same way.

Summary and Conclusions

• Mobility should be at the core of your IT strategy going forward

• Increasingly distributed operations (always a good idea)• Reduce infrastructure costs (including real estate)• Think information and network/Web services, not PCs

• After all, we call it “IT”!

• Think through operational issues before finalizing a strategy• Management, support, etc.• Pick the best toolset for the job, but keep growth in mind

• Handhelds will replace PCs for many• Amazing range of function in a small package• But expect continuing evolution for the foreseeable future

• Build teams regardless of the physical distance between team members

• Focus on OpEx, not CapEx


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Handhelds are going to replace PCs formany. I am not telling you that you will avoidbuying somebody a PC. I think PCs are goingto be around for quite some time. Butincreasingly more and more IT functions aregoing to be moved on to ever more powerfulhandsets, and notebooks themselves will bereplaced by network computers of some sort.

There is an amazing range of functions insmall packages today, whether we’re talkingabout mobile Internet-based devices, Linux-based computers, or handsets. And these aregoing to continue to evolve at a fairly rapidpace for the foreseeable future. There aresome tremendous advances yet to be seen.

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An IT Briefing produced bymedia.techtarget.com/Syndication/NETWORKING/SMobComp... · 2009-04-22 · market, field services, and sales, and other applications where specific devices