Overview
The functional line is being blurred between smart phones, ultra portable devices and PC’s. A couple of years ago smart phones were considered virtually unusable for enterprise applications other than e-mail and messaging and PC’s and laptops were considered unusable for real time mobile communication devices. This is starting to change as the market see’s the emergence of ultra portable devices that are able double as true enterprise productivity devices. This year at CES we are seeing a lot of devices that can be used as enterprise productivity devices but are primarily targeted at mobile communication and entertainment. This provides an opportunity to either build or repurpose these devices and use them for enterprise application presentation.
The opportunity extends both to the device and the application side of the solution set and is the premise for the rest of this document; that premise being that with the new class of enterprise devices opportunities exist for leveraging them against use cases that have traditionally been served by larger sized presentation devices and operating systems.
Examples of enterprise applications that would benefit from use of an ultra-portable device:
EMR applications
MRP applications
Enterprise deployment issues surrounding enterprise application adoption on smaller form factor devices:
Security – this includes security for both the data and the device
Accessibility – meant to indicate access to the IP transport layer and speed of same.
Supportability – Would the device be relatively easy for enterprise IT groups to support and maintain?
Cost – Is the feature / function benefit supported by a good efficiency improvement or revenue model?
Enterprise application usage:
In general if an application is written for use in production enterprises then they are usually meant to be run on a Windows based platform and they are meant to be rendered on a large screen, usually 1024/768 minimum. If they are used on smaller form factor devices then they either don’t render correctly or the screens are so small that they are unusable. This has been the case when trying to use enterprise applications on traditional smart phones and PDA’s. This is coupled with the notoriously buggy nature of these devices.

Issues with ultraportable devices:
Primarily the issue with ultraportable device use in the enterprise is centered around the following two main areas:
1. Input and presentation layer issues – these are varied but mainly center around screen size and input device, touch screen or virtual/real but tiny, keyboards.
2. Lack of ability to run enterprise applications - because of the way that the applications are being rendered, they aren’t viewable or aren’t usable on smaller screens.
3. Limited battery life, ,limited peripherals – batteries run out fast or there is a small amount of peripherals that are usable on these devices.
4. Power and storage space limitations - extremely limited and therefore causes the devices to be heavy and or overheat and or perform poorly.
5. Operating system limitations – They are either too lightweight or are too cumbersome to use on small devices therefore limiting both performance and capability.
Why Google’s Android may be the best answer:
1. The operating system has a base Linux Kernel and can be used easily in conjunction with or for development on many platforms that are already in existence.
a. Unlike

Overview
Wireless networks are evolving rapidly into very complex combinations of different services that are not inherently designed to work together in a seamless manner. Companies must rapidly develop strategies that will allow them to balance this range of services and still deliver a higher quality of service than ever before. This will require careful planning and the development of a long term strategy for managing both the infrastructure and the radio frequency space within buildings and campus environments. Radio Frequency spectrum management is a huge consideration that most companies do not really have a plan for. Development of an RF management and growth plan is essential as more services and layered network deployments are placed into the same amount of limited frequency space.

Develop a strategy for long term radio frequency asset protection
The fact that radio frequency spectrum is an asset that needs to be protected and managed comes as a surprise to even many seasoned network professionals. However, as an example; 802.11 wireless networks must coexist in a frequency space that is unlicensed and free for anyone to use. Devices coexisted in these frequency spaces long before 802.11 networks were deployed; devices such as cordless phones and microwave ovens are classic examples of this, but there are many more devices that are being deployed into networks with very little understanding of the ultimate impact on the overall network performance or long term needs. Therefore the planning and implementation of a strategy for the protection and management of this asset should be of paramount consideration to any organization that relies or is going to rely on it wireless infrastructure for delivery of mission critical services. The main issue is how to manage and plan for the current and future use of radio frequencies that are being used by more devices delivering more services with higher level of requirements and resource needs within the very real resource constraints that are available.

New definition of mobility
The classic mindset for wireless networks and wireless devices has been to consider them as an extension of the existing wired network. Mobility has been defined as the ability to move from place to place and use wireless networks as a point of use technology within these areas of defined wireless utility. This mindset has allowed wired and wireless networks to coexist but with limited wireless functionality. The new definition of mobility is the ability to take all the services that are currently being delivered with wired networking; including all voice, data and application services and use them while moving around and disconnected totally from the wired infrastructure. This definition is creating a real strategic as well as tactical dilemma.

Therefore, the development and implementation of an infrastructure strategy that includes the ability to leverage current and future investment into a cohesive plan that protects investment and assets allocation is imperative to any organization; or at least any organization that wishes to maintain its competitive edge as the industry move towards the inevitability of true mobility.