Interop: Making A Mobile EnterpriseInterop: Making A Mobile Enterprise

Enterprise mobility is no longer a distant point on a road map, as many companies are discovering that wireless networks, smartphones, and mobile broadband can lead to a more productive workforce. But there are still questions about best practices for mobilizing businesses.

During the Mobile Business Conference 2009, heavy hitters Nokia, Sprint, Nortel, Cisco, Verizon, Motorola, Juniper Networks, Research In Motion, Skype, and others will be showing off enterprise mobility solutions, as well as discussing the future of making businesses more productive in an increasingly mobile world. The show will be co-located with Interop Las Vegas from May 17-21, and attendees can register for both here.

While the economy is weighing heavily on many businesses, Interop VP and general manager Lenny Heymann said many companies realize that investing in mobile infrastructure now will pay dividends down the road. In the past, enterprise mobility meant wireless LANs, but Heymann said businesses now are focusing on deploying smartphones and extending enterprise apps to road warriors.

"This is the type of show that's a bit more technical, and it's filled with attendees who have pent-up demands and needs," said Heymann.

Apple's iPhone, for example, has taken the smartphone world by storm, and workers are itching to get the touch-screen device on corporate networks. But IT departments are wrestling with issues regarding mobile device security, application policies, and personal use. The iPhone will get a firmware update this summer that could ultimately affect its usefulness in the enterprise.

A conference track addressing these concerns will cover how to integrate Apple's smartphone into a corporate environment without compromising on security or manageability. While the iPhone is a popular platform at the moment, businesses also will hear from experts on how to implement and understand Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and Symbian platforms. Readying Apps For The Road

Companies are discovering that pushing corporate e-mail to mobile employees is just the tip of the iceberg, as enterprise apps such as CRM software can lead to increased sales. This offers many challenges for IT departments though, as they have to figure out how to secure these apps without losing functionality.

One of the major hurdles is optimizing apps for multiple mobile platforms while still maintaining the security and policy standards the company requires. While IT departments would love to standardize around a single mobile platform, those plans can change rapidly if a willful senior executive demands to have his iPhone on the corporate network. There will be a number of companies looking to address this issue at Interop, as well as conference sessions that outline the best practices for mobilizing enterprise apps.

One young company is looking to make a splash in this arena by offering an open source, platform-agnostic way for enterprises to build and deploy apps. Rhomobile, which is a finalist for the Best of Interop, offers a framework that enables developers to mainly use HTML to create rich, native apps for iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Android, and Symbian smartphones. These apps can take advantage of device features such as GPS and cameras, and can deliver strong, secure data synchronization via the company's RhoSync server.

"Especially with the success of the App Store, users expect to be able to do interesting things with their smartphones but they've been stymied," said Rhomobile CEO Adam Blum. "Heterogeneity is here to stay, even in companies that mandate BlackBerrys or Windows Mobile."

Many companies are just beginning to implement their mobile broadband strategy for road warriors, but the next generation of services is just around the corner. Clearwire, which has large investments from Sprint, Google, and Intel, is rapidly rolling out a WiMax network that could offer up to 75 Mbps. Meanwhile, Verizon, AT&T, and others are ramping up their deployment of 4G networks based on Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology.

With these competing networks expected to be rolled out in the next few years, enterprises need to have a strategy in place addressing when and how to implement 4G without being on the losing side of a standards battle. During the "Road To 4G Wireless" session, experts will discuss how companies can effectively plan for and implement the next generation of mobile broadband.

Beyond Smartphones

Although smartphones and enterprise apps grab a lot of attention, the Mobile Business Conference also will have plenty of products, discussion panels, and expert advice on wireless LANs, unified communications, unified network management, and how fixed-mobile convergence can affect the bottom line. Skype has embraced the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) in order to make waves in the enterprise market, and Stefan Oberg, VP of Skype for Business, will be giving a keynote speech about how savvy businesses can save time and money by implementing consumer-grade technology that has been adapted for business use.

Enterprise mobility will play a large role at Interop, but the conference will also have vendors, experts, and panel discussion on all the hot topics for IT professionals. Along with the traditional elements of IT infrastructure, this year's conference will place an increased emphasis on emerging segments such as virtualization management, and will cut through the hype enveloping cloud computing.

For registration, keynote speakers, and a full list of the conference sessions and exhibitors, visit the Interop Las Vegas 2009 Web site.