Comment: Where will wireless take IT?
Is wireless computing simply a new facet of the traditional client-server model, or will it, as some argue, accelerate moves towards hosted IT services, asks Martin Banks
At the recent Intel Developers' Forum in Berlin, Intel's Sean Maloney and HP's Rudi Schmickl came to some interesting conclusions about a development that could be fundamental to the way IT evolves over the coming years.
Both men questioned whether the sudden growth of wireless access to the internet and related services will lead in the direction of thin clients and hosted computing, or in the opposite direction to even fatter clients.
Maloney, vice president of Intel's Communications Division, argued that fatter clients were likely, while Schmickl, vice president for Europe at HP's Business Critical Systems arm, predicted that it would lead to the growth of hosted computing services. Maloney's position was that thin clients have been around for years but have generally failed to catch on. He used a fascinating phrase to explain why this was so: "No one wants to give up control of their own destiny."
Schmickl said wireless will typically be integral to firms' core infrastructure, and should be run by IT teams working to service level agreements. As an aside, he also noted that the way IT services are sold is changing - for example, some airlines now want to buy sales management services priced per ticket sold.
Schmickl acknowledged that the thinnest clients used for wireless links will probably soon be fatter than most standard PCs today. This is inevitable given the rapid advances in hardware. But with a hosted computing model, users will not need the functionality of a fully-featured PC.
Hosted computing could allow IT managers to engineer much greater control over business processes and the applications that manage them. And with wireless systems as an integral part of the infrastructure, they could give staff constant access to the information and processes they need.
It should not be forgotten - in all the brouhaha about wireless LANs and executives connecting to company servers from far-flung hotels - that most corporate staff will rarely if ever need more than office or campus-wide connectivity. But they will find advantages in being able to carry their work environment with them - in the form of a thin laptop, a handheld or other device that identifies them and brings their work environment to the nearest available workstation.
HP and other major vendors such as IBM are already heavily committed to hosted computing services charged on a metered basis. They are moving away from selling complete systems to users who are then left to get on with it. Intel should pay attention. Wireless is a core component of this development, not just a new gimmick for selling ever-fatter laptops.