While my company develops systems for facility management, the lessons we've learned in this area are applicable to any company that wants to adopt mobile technology and to develop applications to support their mobile workers.
The Pocket PC has become the hot device in the facility management industry (see Sidebar) for the same reasons it is attracting attention in every industry that has mobile workers: the easy-to-use interface and users' familiarity with Windows.
In meeting customers' goals of reliable and compliant data use, developers of Pocket PC software have faced many challenges. The most formidable task is integration with each client's existing corporate environment, device application needs, and enterprise security requirements.
Software design has changed drastically as developers have graduated from programming simple portable data collection devices, to creating applications for the Palm, to tackling the complexities of software design for the Pocket PC.
The Pocket PC is ideal for a mobile workforce. The devices are jam packed with features that include expansion slots, faster processors, robust programs such as Pocket Word and Excel, intrinsically safe models, and multi-tasking instead of the single-tasking that older DOS-based devices offered. All these features have to be taken into consideration when designing a comprehensive third-party software program to run on the Pocket PC.
Behind the scenes
A lot more goes on behind the scenes in application development than most users will ever see. First, in order for a mobile application to beat the old clipboard and pen method, the software must run efficiently at optimum speed with streamlined data transfer. Users cannot lose any of their valuable time sending or receiving data when they could be out working in the field. Developers pay particular attention to data transfer and are consistently looking for ways to improve this process. Creating a customized synchronization process that only transfers the necessary data is one of the preferred techniques to protect from data loss. This method compresses the data prior to transferring, and then only transfers the information that has changed since the last sync. This cuts the time for transferring data dramatically.
Corporate security
Securing a network has never been as important or as complex as it is today. Companies depend on firewalls to protect networks from intrusion by unauthorized users, “denial of service” attacks, and viruses. Not only is downtime lost time, but financial and client data can be compromised by one of these attacks. With all these challenges, how can mobile users securely connect remotely to an enterprise application that might be located across the country, all without compromising the transferred data or network security?
Firewall companies have tackled this problem and have developed connectivity methods and clients for mobile devices through Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and Virtual Private Networks (VPN) technology. SSL provides a secure connection by encrypting and compressing data to be transferred. Secure connections such as a VPN are usually Internet Protocol (IP)-based, requiring an Internet connection. Users can gain access to such Internet connectivity through a local Internet service and a router, a cable or dial-up modem, or through wireless connections via cellular or Wi-Fi services.
The corporate world is rapidly adopting a high security standard for sensitive data. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of 2002 requires a new security system for public companies as specified by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This is yet another way in which the SEC works to protect stockholders. While not all firms are required to meet this standard, there will undoubtedly be a trickle-down effect as smaller companies follow this lead.
Encryption and data integrity
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