Are You Managing?

By  Susan Nunziata

IT executives are being challenged like never before to accommodate a heterogeneous environment filled with mobile and wireless devices. Mobile business applications need to work on a growing array of platforms, gadgets that challenge the security of corporate data are proliferating, and demand for support from a growing user base puts tremendous burden on IT resources.

Even when the mobile environment is homogenous and tightly controlled, the burden of mobility management falls squarely on the shoulders of IT.

As this issue's cover story shows, operating in such an environment is both a blessing and a curse. At Northeastern University, the myriad mobile devices on campus have spurred innovation in how core campus applications are delivered. Other organizations, such as food distributor Windsor Foods and law firm Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, have equally found creative ways to manage the demands of their mobile users.

In this issue's Expert Commentary on page 11, IDC's Sean Ryan challenges enterprises to further leverage mobility for business applications, and acknowledges the very real roadblocks to doing so.

The power and potential of mobile and wireless applications and devices was in no way more evident than in the aftermath of the earthquake that devastated the nation of Haiti in January.

At press time, news about the disaster was already fading from front pages. But the efforts to raise funds through text messaging, the cross-industry cooperation to restore wireless and mobile services to those responding to the disaster, and the ongoing work being done there continue to inspire awe.

We hope you'll take the time to read our coverage on page 8 that details how those in the wireless industry have come together like never before to aid those so profoundly effected by this disaster.