Mobile & Wireless Technology
2003 Survivor's Guide to Mobile and Wireless
December 6,
2002
By Dave Molta
Mobile and wireless systems initiatives often top IT managers' pilot-project
lists. Not only is the allure of enhanced mobility extremely strong,
technologists are also innately fascinated by the technology itself. When it
works, wireless networking is nothing short of amazing, a testimony to 21st
century engineering ingenuity.
The downside is that, in most organizations, getting from pilot project to
production system requires compelling ROI, and the costs and benefits of many
mobile and wireless systems initiatives are difficult to measure. Sure, you can
slap together a budget for a new WLAN (wireless LAN), for example, but
determining the TCO (total cost of ownership) that reflects the upgrades as the
technology evolves is another issue. Just how much of a productivity increase
can you realize by giving people untethered access to the network? Of course,
you may have a situation where WLANs can save you the cost of wiring, but in
most environments where performance is a priority, you'll probably need to have
a wired infrastructure in addition to wireless. Then it comes down to
demonstrating ROI for two networks.
Here's the good news. We
believe that many senior managers--the ones who sign off on big technology
initiatives--will respond favorably to well-conceived mobile and wireless
projects thanks to their personal experiences. Your job is to identify the most
promising technologies and deploy them at the right time.
Security Concerns
The WLAN market, estimated by Gartner to be a $1.78
billion market worldwide in 2001, continued its torrid growth in 2002 despite a
weak economy. But it could have been even hotter were it not for widespread
security concerns. In the post-9/11 world, it's no surprise that security
concerns are at the root of nearly every new business initiative, and in the
mobile and wireless market, it's an ever more serious problem. One reason is
that today's generation of security standards represents a sorry state of
affairs. It's no surprise that security concerns are cited as the No. 1 obstacle
to wireless technology implementations.
A second problem is that the effective wireless security solutions that do exist
are complex, for both the users who have to deal with them and the IT
professionals who must implement and manage them. Everyone's in search of a
silver bullet, and it's nowhere to be found.
The prevailing wisdom for enterprise WLAN security is to deploy the same VPN
technology that has long been used for secure remote access on wired networks.
Although VPN client software is often a pain in the butt for users, most people
adapt to it, and some good VPN clients are available. But simple VPNs can be
ill-equipped to deal with the roaming and intermittent disconnects typical of
wireless connections. Yes, there are VPN variants that address these problems,
but they add complexity and cost.
Many people look to 802.1x as the solution to WLAN security. While we expect
802.1x to gain much greater acceptance in the coming year, it doesn't address
all the problems. Look for significant progress to be made in 2003 by the IEEE
802.11i committee in charge of revamping security, but don't be shocked if
standards aren't here until 2004. Faced with those delays, the Wi-Fi Alliance,
formerly WECA, has announced a new set of security standards, dubbed Wi-Fi
Protected Access, or WPA, that will be incorporated into its product
certification process during 2003. That move will enhance security, but it is
best viewed as an interim solution. If you can't wait that long, there are
plenty of other solutions to solve WLAN security, but most are proprietary,
expensive or both.
Perhaps the greatest challenge you'll face is to select WLAN infrastructure that
provides some level of investment protection so you don't need to throw it away
next year when new standards emerge. That's an issue that separates
enterprise-oriented wireless vendors from low-cost suppliers that target the
small office and home office markets.
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