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When attempting to transition your place of work from not using mobile devices to using them you may be faced with some serious challenges. No matter how prepared you can be or how well laid out your project really is, you could find some opposing forces along the way. Change, specifically aimed at progress, is always something that might be feared by some people. Just be prepared to hold hands and guide through the process and get armed with a killer training program so that changes are well received.

Some of the opposing forces to mobility could be counted as concerns which might as well be perfectly reasonable, just have in mind that a good implementation will address all concerns with smart and appropriately budgeted solutions.

Some of these concerns include:

• User Adoption
• Total Cost of Ownership
• Common IT Infrastructure
• Network Concerns
• Security

User Adoption

This is the most common concern when you are implementing a new solution. You will find that there are certain company members that will find the most bizarre excuses not to implement a new solution. While this is a very strong force to be opposed by, you already have the tools to beat it outright. Expose the logical process by which you came to the conclusion why this (and not other solutions) happen to be the best one available. The training materials, could explain why it is convenient to jump into this solution as opposed to any other or even remain with status quo. With tougher crowds, you may want to implement presentations that show the benefits of using this solution. These presentations are usually a good warm-up session to the actual implementation because they highlight incredible features along with what it means to the business in terms of revenue, profit and cost reduction.

Total Cost of Ownership

Concerns regarding TCO are usually centered in lack of experience with the platform. While it is true that the first time implementers will incur into a much higher cost than the experienced implementing teams. On the other hand, TCO with Windows Devices remains more flat than an equivalent implementation with laptop computers. Not even to mention that TCO with Windows Mobile has a much, much shorter implementation span, a more extended life span and simpler applications to develop.

Common IT Infrastructure

Windows Mobile devices can be administered remotely, they can access the same infrastructure as networked computers. Servers, services and applications only need to be slightly tweaked to support these devices on top of the existing computers they currently support. Worst case scenario, a new service and administration application may need to be implemented. Such as the tools for remotely administering WM devices. Best case scenario a web site or an intranet application does not even need to be tweaked because Pocket Internet Explorer already can browse any web site and intranet available through its network.

Network Concerns

Windows Mobile devices can access the same networks that laptops can. They both can use WiFi at any hotspot when equipped with WiFi connectivity and they both can access Internet through cell phone specific connections (laptops would require a carrier-provided USB dongle). On top of those physical connections, VPN’s can be easily configured so that devices can access all internal resources that will be made available to them with the security added by the appropriate encryption.

Security

Finally, security concerns can certainly be addressed by encrypting the connection (VPN, encrypted protocols such as HTTPS, etc) or using encrypted data when data is stored in the device. There is a complete selection of encryption standards that I have addressed in a previous post that you can read by clicking here.

All in all, opposing forces to a mobile implementation can always be contained, just have your training, presentations and one-on-one explanations that would justify going one way instead of the other. A well though out mobile system should find its way to production easily if the strategy to create it is sound.

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Diego Samuilov (18 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook

Diego Samuilov has worked in Microsoft's environments since he started his professional career in 1990. Since then, he has been through many positions related to the Software Development lifecycle. Having worked as a developer, analyst, technical lead, project lead, auditor and, since 1996 a project manager for projects in the Server and Desktop environments. He enjoys the software development process which has played a great part in his skills development. Since the introduction of Windows CE in 1998 he has been involved in one form or another in the development of several solutions for the mobile environment. He leads his consulting company; BlueKatana, Inc in the mobile development effort and participates in public and private developer community events. He actively collaborates with the community at support forums and blogs.