Don't get entangled in the wireless hype

Everyone's going wireless crazy. Just take IBM: less than a month after chief executive Lou Gerstner's prediction that two billion wireless web access devices would be in use within two years, against only 700 million PCs, the company has put its money where its mouth is.

Among its wireless offerings are new models in its ThinkPad and WorkPad ranges, including the company's first handheld model with a colour display.

And it's not only client devices that are losing the spaghetti as IBM ships wireless management technology for its eServer line. Theoretically, this will allow system administrators to extend server applications to wireless users as well as control their servers remotely.

IBM is not alone. Cisco is releasing its Aironet 350 series of wireless local area network (Lan) products as an upgrade to the Aironet 340. Lucent and Ericsson are other high profile names that have been pouring money into wireless, hoping for a share of what is predicted to be a $200bn market within two years.

Serious as these vendors are, potential buyers should be cautious about a wire-free future. They might well be suspicious: it's not unknown for vendors to engage in mutual hype to boost the image of a flagging 'next big thing'.

The emergence of standards like IEEE 802.11 for wireless Lans is part, if not most, of the reason. With the fruition of such protocols, a basic wireless solution is suddenly relatively inexpensive to develop and straightforward to use. It is much less of a risk for vendors to invest in and users to implement.

However, this does not necessarily mean that now is the time for users to be throwing money indiscriminately at the wireless market.

Ratifying standards

For starters, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers has struggled to ratify different 802.11 standards. 802.11g is supposed to double wireless transfer rates to about 22Mbps on the 2.4Ghz frequency, but industry commentators doubt whether existing users will replace their equipment.

Later this year, 802.11a equipment is expected to ship, with transfer rates of 54Mbps on the 5Ghz frequency.

Clive Longbottom, an analyst at Quocirca, advised caution. "For smaller startups, perhaps getting into serviced accommodation, the 802.11 standard offers plenty of performance. But for larger operations like branch offices of major enterprises, it may not offer enough," he warned.

"If you are used to what you can currently get across a standard connection, 11Mb shared between a few people is not going to seem fast," he added.

Longbottom said that Quocirca intended to make all future IT investments wireless compatible, so evidently he has a degree of confidence in the technology's future.

Restricted bandwidth will be a way of life until third-generation networks are predominant, but this is likely to be years away, despite the hype. But the problems that wireless poses to system managers go some way beyond speed and capacity.

There's the confusing variety of handheld and wireless devices which they must now support, for example. Getting a handle on all these devices makes yesterday's big issue - managing laptops - seem like a walk in the park. Managers face supporting PalmOS, PocketPC, Symbian, Rim and other platforms, all within the same enterprise.

Then there's the tangle of bearers and protocols which must be supported. When you combine the operating system platforms and corresponding devices with the different connection types, you're left with a complex matrix of options to support.

Securing networks

And don't forget security. Scientists in the US have warned wireless Lan users to use extra security measures after tests revealed that such systems are insecure against hackers.

The trouble is that handheld and wireless devices have to be supported, because they're going to provide mission-critical applications in a range of industries.

The answer to the problem is some sort of mobile device management solution that lets employees focus on doing their jobs and lets the IT department answer concerns about virus protection, security, control and the tracking of devices.

According to industry analysts, total cost of ownership of mobile devices is usually many times higher than the price of the device itself. Efficient mobile device management should solve this too, delivering a substantial return on investment in a short time.

With its new wireless remote management technology, IBM is claiming to have some of these bases covered. But for all the lengthy gestation of the wireless market, there is no solution that makes the headache of managing wireless devices across the enterprise a total no brainer.