For most large hardware deployments, a key portion of the planning phase is setting all of the policies pertaining to processes, role, and responsibilities for the use of the hardware in the enterprise environment. This policy creation phase should be no different when considering a Pocket PC deployment. For all intents and purposes, the Pocket PC platform is a true mobile computing platform (along with notebook and laptop computers), and should be given the same consideration and respect when considering organizational policies.

What aspects of enterprise policy should be considered when taking the Pocket PC platform into account? And how can the policy-making process be simplified?

Thinking "mobile computer"

Before I go into the details of setting enterprise policies for Pocket PC deployments, I ask you, the reader, to accept the following statement:

The Pocket PC is a mobile computing platform that can be used in the same ways as any other mobile computing platform.

You may be saying, "I know that already!" If so, then that is good. Please do not forget, minimize, or overlook that fact when creating policies and standards for Pocket PCs in your organization. The reason for this is simple--many people today still do not view the Pocket PC (or any PDA, for that matter) as a "real" mobile computing device. It is usually this misconception that leads to problems once deployment has occurred.

The Pocket PC is not alone in the history of what I call the "doesn't really count" corporate classification. Over the last 15 years, I have worked for or with numerous organizations that felt that the following "new and non-standard" technology platforms were deemed not worthy of formal policies and support:

• 1980s—PCs
• Early 1990s—Laptop (then notebook) computers
• Mid-1990s—Cellular phones
• Late 1990s to the present—PDAs