SAN JOSE: According to a new study by Gartner Inc., which is expected to be
released on Monday, there will be almost 800 million wireless data users
worldwide by 2004. These users are expected to access data and information from
the Internet remotely through various devices including mobile phones, laptop
computers, handheld PCs, e-mail devices and other products that may be
introduced in the future.
Gartner vice president and research director, Bob Egan said, businesses must
readdress their network security and data access options to accommodate the
growing use of these mobile devices by employees. "(Companies) are going to
have to re-engineer their networks in ways that allow people to actually get
access to network resources from outside the company walls," Egan told
Reuters.
Egan pointed out that companies have typically set up their networks on the
assumption that employees will be accessing data only from within the office.
Egan said companies must consider supporting three kinds of wireless
technologies: technology that allows employees to send data over national
wireless networks, technology that would allow employees wireless Internet
access to a local network and technology that would allow employees to transfer
information wirelessly between devices.
"Enterprises will be well-advised to remember that no single wireless
access network topology will meet anywhere near 80 per cent of the requirements
of workers," Egan said in a news release. Bluetooth, a new technology, has
often been touted as a good technology to enable wireless access to local area
networks (LAN), but Egan said that technology should be considered carefully due
to security issues.
He recommended that Bluetooth be used for its originally intended purpose: to
transfer files between devices, to replace wires, and to synchronize file and
data between devices. Egan said companies should consider the more secure 802.11
wireless technology to enable wireless access to local area networks.
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.