"Wi-fi complements and extends LAN"

BANGALORE: Wireless connectivity is not just transforming the way businesses work but is also bringing in more revenues for companies. This point of view came out strongly in the breakaway session on wireless enterprise, at the CIOL C-change India CIO forum in Bangalore.

At the panel discussion on “Transforming business through wireless mobility: Pros and Cons”, Satish Pendse, CIO, Kuoni Travels, said, “ For almost the first time in my experience as a CIO, there is no pressure from the management to justify the ROI for wireless, since the benefits affects the topline.”

Arun Gupta, CIO, Pfizer, the moderator for the panel, said that besides the acquisition cost, the recurring cost from wireless mobility posed a problem. Acknowledging this, Prasanto Kumar Roy, Dataquest chief editor, said that Gartner recently suggested tie-ups with service providers. He also added that CIOs could look at less expensive options like using CDMA phones to access the Internet.

Earlier, in his presentation on the wireless enterprise, Roy said that Wi-Fi complements and extends LAN in the enterprise. Highlighting the increased proliferation of technologies like Wi-fi, Wi-Max, mobility and RFID, both globally and in India, he said, “Wireless mobility is growing in the enterprise. It is being deployed extensively on the field and many enterprise applications are getting web enabled.”

Arun also touched briefly on the downside of the technology that keeps employees connected all the time, interrupting into personal time. Ishwar Jha, Zee Telefilms, differed from this viewpoint saying that mobility allowed him to leave office early since he could work on his way back home.” Arun concluded saying it was important to balance work and life using mobility.