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The working world continues to become more mobile. Organizations are finding new ways to use mobile computing and communications networks and devices, expand wireless coverage and roll out new mobile applications. Laptops, tablets, cell phones, PDAs and other portable units have become part of everyday life for countless workers.

With all of these portable devices floating around, and given the costs and security risks associated with mobile wireless technology, it makes sense for organizations to have some sort of formal policy or strategy regarding mobility. And yet many companies have no such strategy, and likely no clue about how many devices are out there, who's using them and how they're being used.

Recent industry research shows that mobility continues to grow. For example, IDC in May reported that worldwide shipments of converged mobile devices (including smartphones, PDA-style phones and BlackBerrys) will experience a compound annual growth rate of 54 percent, to reach more than 82 million units that will be shipped in 2011.

Shipments of Windows Mobile PDAs increased 64 percent in the first quarter of 2007, and this helped propel worldwide PDA shipments to 5.1 million units, a 40 percent increase from the first quarter of 2006, according to Gartner Inc.

And Compass Intelligence in May released research predicting that businesses in the U.S. will spend about $9 billion on mobile applications by 2011. This year, U.S. businesses are expected to spend an estimated $3.8 billion on mobile applications, including mobile and wireless-based custom-coded and packaged applications. The market is poised for double-digit annual growth into 2011, Compass says.

Organizations continue to deploy wireless LANs, push wireless coverage further out into the enterprise, issue portable devices to users and roll out mobile applications. Yet most organizations today lack a formal strategy regarding mobility, says Peter Rysavy, president of Rysavy Research, a consulting firm specializing in wireless networking.

Why is that the case? For one thing, Rysavy says, much of the technology involved is still relatively new. For another, many deployments of mobile technology, such as PDAs for wireless e-mail access, have so far been ad hoc, rather than part of a corporatewide strategy.

Mobile communications and computing implementations are not always simple, and this adds to the challenge. Mobile "technology is complex, with a lot of different handheld platforms and different wireless networks, making it hard to define comprehensive strategies," Rysavy says. Furthermore, "full incorporation of mobility ultimately redefines many jobs, and this is a long-term process," he adds.

Companies need to have a strategy in place for mobile computing and communications, Rysavy says, because without it there are significant security vulnerabilities. For example, data on devices could become lost or stolen, and devices could be used for unauthorized access to corporate networks.

"Without [a strategy], managing multiple disparate systems will be very costly," Rysavy says. And "a formal strategy will let [organizations] most efficiently leverage productivity benefits."

Rysavy says the key components of a mobile strategy include defining what devices and device operating systems are allowed; determining what applications are made available; defining security procedures and methods; and deploying management systems (for example, centralized software distribution over the air, and tracking mobile inventory.)

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