Wednesday, May 9, 2001

800 Million Wireless Data Users Worldwide by 2004

With the emergence of various mobile devices that employees will use on a regular basis, enterprises must act now to have wireless solutions in place to support these technologies, according to Gartner, Inc. Gartner analysts said there will be almost 800 million worldwide wireless data users by 2004, so enterprises must get prepared to support these technologies. Gartner analysts provided their view of mobile and wireless computing today during Gartner Spring Symposium/ITxpo 2001 in Denver.

With the increase of various mobile devices, enterprises will find it difficult to support all the wireless devices their employees will be using. Gartner analysts estimate that by 2004, the flood of new mobile devices in the enterprise will force at least 50 percent of Fortune 2000 companies to support three distinct solutions (low-speed wireless data only, voice plus Web access and high-speed wireless LAN access).

"Enterprises will be well-advised to remember that no single wireless access network topology will meet anywhere near 80 percent of the requirements of enterprise knowledge workers," said Bob Egan, vice president and research director for Gartner. "To a large extent, end users' network requirements will be driven by the devices they carry, their job roles and their mobility."

Gartner analysts said it's important for enterprises to survey end-user requirements and derive wireless solutions from those demands. Enterprise managers will find these requirements drilled down into three distinct areas: wide area networks (WANs), which are best for low speed data plus voice; local area networks (LANs), which are predominately 802.11 wireless LANs; and personal area networks (PANs) which are dominated by Bluetooth.

"Enterprises should take care to avoid non-802.11 wireless technology such as Bluetooth because it lacks the speed, security and manageability for an enterprise-class solution," Egan said. "For WAM and WAC solutions, enterprises should develop a solution independent of any one specific wireless WAN network standard."

While there has been much enthusiasm around Bluetooth, Gartner analysts said the technology is a long way from being ready for mass adoption. Bluetooth is inadequate for serious, security-sensitive work, and it also lacks the robustness required as wireless extension to an enterprise or public network. The initial applications for the technology include file and data synchronization between devices, wireless headsets for mobile phones and computers, and connections to local peripheral devices.

Whereas 802.11 wireless LAN systems are designed with rigorous encryption choices and formal authentication via manageable access port hubs, Bluetooth is intended to encourage instant, interdevice communications in groups up to eight, quickly with as little overhead as possible.

"Fixing Bluetooth security concerns demands investment in device resources, which reduces vendor margins," Egan said. "These investments include encryption to protect against unwanted eavesdropping, updating of management protocols to protect user systems from unexpected modifications, denial of service measures to deflect hacker attacks, and formal authentication to determine who will be allowed to exchange information."

Emergence of "True" Global E-Businesses Still 5 Years Away
Despite many companies' claims to be e-business today, Gartner, Inc. says by 2003, at a minimum one company in each Global 2,000 sector will be a "true" e-business. Between 2006 and 2008, more than 50 percent of the Global 2,000 enterprises will qualify as true e-businesses. A true e-business is where an enterprise's 10 most critical revenue and cost-related business processes have been transformed into Internet-powered e-business processes. These findings were presented today during Gartner Spring Symposium/ITxpo 2001, which is taking place through May 10 in Denver.

Gartner analysts said the most successful e-business transformation projects will go from concept to completion of the first phase within nine months. In this timeframe, major initiatives start delivering value sooner and incrementally build their full objectives. By 2002, almost all Global 2,000 companies with effective e-business strategies will use rapid, repetitive planning processes.

"Recurring, fixed-duration cycles deliver additional benefits. Their visible time pressure and urgency help identify and overcome bureaucratic delays and red tape," said Jeff Schulman, Gartner vice president. "The fixed duration forces the organization to zero in on the key elements of value that need to be delivered soonest. Because each cycle requires less resources than the initiative as a whole, approvals and funding can be linked into the cycle review process to reduce risk and accelerate the approval process."

While committees are a popular mechanism currently employed by companies to implement e-business, Gartner analysts said e-business czars will be put into place by enterprises that are committed and striving to aggressively adopt e-business. These czars will have direct access to the CEO to enable swift decision-making, to act as a symbol of e-business commitment and to integrate e-business with the overall enterprise strategy. Once they have done so, they will move on.

"Global 2,000 enterprises must culturally disrupt their organizations to capitalize on the opportunities in the digital economy. New enterprise cultures will embrace flexibility, risk-taking, collaboration and swift decision-making. At all levels, avoiding those that do not embrace the new values is necessary," said Schulman.

The Internet is an effective medium for servicing the smaller, targeted market segments that result as organizations become more customer-centric, moving from mass-market, mass-production approaches to niche-market, mass-customization strategies. Gartner analysts said the e-business plans yielding the greatest business value will be those that promote noncentralized, market-by-market initiatives. New opportunities are best perceived by those who work at a market's customer or trading touch points; they understand customer/partner needs and current channel and process weaknesses.