Feature

The Future of Enterprise Mobility: Seven Predictions

In 2008, businesses can expect to see the opening of cellular networks, the start of global radio frequency (RF) technology convergence and a growing mobile security threat, as well as more dropped cellular phone calls and poorer call quality, among other trends.

The Start of True Radio Frequency (RF) Technology Convergence

The coming years will not see a dispute between disparate next-generation RF technologies like HSPA, long-term evolution (LTE) and WiMax, but they will see the beginnings of "global harmonization of RF technology," according to Fuenzalida.

These technologies are in very different states of evolution, Fuenzalida says. For instance, HSPA is mature and is currently employed by more than 10 million wireless users with a wide variety of devices. WiMax is still a very young technology, in its trial stages, and it will likely be at least a year or two before it becomes widely used.

And LTE, which Verizon recently chose as its fourth-generation technology, is in its infancy. InCode predicts it won't be until 2012 that LTE becomes used commercially. But at that point, Fuenzalida says it's likely that wireless users and handset makers will find it in their interest to make their devices operate on LTE. Wireless users will then experience the first full globalization of RF technology. That means mobile workers will then be able to use their in much wider range of areas without carrying multiple devices that operate on the various RF technologies.

Mobile Device Management and Security to Present Challenge

When cellular networks become truly open, it will become increasingly difficult for CIOs and their IT departments to manage and secure mobile devices, as networks locked down by carriers are also secured by carriers.

IT executives will look to their network operators and other vendors to offer security and device management solutions to address the issue, according to inCode. Some two-thirds of organizations consider mobile device management to be a serious or very serious issue, And a recent poll of 200 CIOs and telecommunications directors found that 95 percent of respondents are seeking new ways to manage mobile devices and applications, while 45 percent are looking to carriers for solutions.

In 2008, "a major [smartphone] security incident will raise awareness of and the need for mobile device security," reads an inCode report. "This will therefore create and drive a new market for mobile device security software as well as mobile device management software and services," like Zenprise's automated BlackBerry environment monitoring and issue resolution product.

Security solutions will be another way for carriers to differentiate themselves from competitors. Current Analysis researchers expect that there will be consolidation in the device management and security middleware markets as vendors merge and acquire smaller players or go bankrupt. The demand will spur large companies like EDS, Accenture and IBM to enter the market, to offer their own mobility management and security services, or try to buy out smaller vendors, Current Analysis suggests. Systems integrators and Internet service providers and website hosting companies will also expand their current offerings to address the issues, Current Analysis says.