**As published in RCR Wireless News**

SAN DIEGO – What equipment a company decides to outfit its workforce with will be one of its most important and lasting decisions. It can also be particularly challenging if the company is aiming to put a virtual office in the pocket of its employees.

On the closing day of Gartner’s Wireless, Networking and Communications Summit, the analyst firm’s research VP, Leslie Fiering, delivered a presentation that delved into the factors that impact the potential effectiveness of an office-in-your-pocket solution, how it can be matched with user requirements and how office-in-your-pocket solutions will evolve over the next five years.

In short, there isn’t much Fiering expects to not see change in the next couple years. Taking Moore’s Law into account and keeping in mind which notebooks and cellphones were the most popular five years ago should be all the convincing one needs: office-in-your-pocket solutions evolve in an equally dramatic and rapid fashion. Read more

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

SAN DIEGO – In the closing keynote at Gartner’s Wireless, Networking and Communications Summit, the research firm’s VP and distinguished analyst, Nick Jones, offered his take on where mobility should fit into the general roadmap of enterprise. Looking out, five years down the horizon, Jones told the audience via video Web cast that while many industries are transitioning to a more nimble communications environment, many technologies are intersecting to create more opportunities for business.

“This is a critical time,” he said. “No one can afford to skip up. If you don’t establish your presence in the next year or two you may never establish a presence.” Those businesses that wait much longer will find that others, including their competitors, will be much further ahead in implementing an enterprise mobility strategy and may find it difficult to narrow the gap.

“Think about where you are as compared to your peers,” Jones said. Businesses that are misaligned with their peers’ approach to a mobile strategy – either too far ahead or behind – should review their plans. Read more

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

SAN DIEGO – When a trend or shift requires a new phrase or way of thinking, you can bet it carries tremendous impact – the implication being that it goes beyond words. If there’s one factor that’s impacting the mobile enterprise more than anything else it would have to be the “consumerization” of technology in the workplace.

“Things happen in consumer markets first and then they impact businesses,” explained David Mitchell Smith, VP and Gartner fellow here at Gartner’s Wireless, Networking and Communications Summit. Smith delivered a nearly hour-long presentation on the impact of consumerization on the mobile enterprise while throwing in advice and the occasional words of encouragement for businesses already feeling the effect.

“Consumerization is not a strategy … it’s not something you can adopt,” he said. Though this shift has led to what Gartner refers to as “the IT Civil War,” Smith said “it can’t be stopped; it can be dealt with” Read more

**As published in RCR Wireless News**

SAN DIEGO – You don’t even need access to mass media to know that app stores are all the rage in mobile these days. But how app storefronts and their ecosystems play in the enterprise sandbox is an entirely different animal.

Michael King, a research director at Gartner, began his presentation at Gartner’s Wireless, Networking and Communications Summit by detailing the level of competition, interest and investment in the app space.

“It seems like everybody and their mother has an app store these days,” King said and it doesn’t really make sense for everyone to have one. Read more