Pocket PCs have come a long way over the past few years. However, their functionality in the enterprise is still somewhat unclear. The industry has made a significant range of products to assist IT professionals in achieving their mission goals, and these products come at a most important time. Most IT departments are feeling the crunch of a depressed economy, and many find themselves shorthanded, even though the workload placed on them is at its all-time high.
Many organizations, in order to alleviate this load on the IT staff, have implemented Virtual Private Network (VPN) solutions that allow overworked IT staff the opportunity to telecommute rather than return to the office after hours. This works well if you happen to be at home, but how many times have you been out of the house when your pager summoned you back to the office? Another common practice is to run a night shift, but in most cases this only compounds the budget shortage common throughout IT departments. Also, I have found that the only real "advantage" in having a night shift is that rather than having an automated page notify an administrator of problems, a member of the night shift calls the administrator instead. This is where the VPN-enabled Pocket PC devices can make a real difference in the way that your IT department conducts its business, and can help the IT professional enjoy some much-needed downtime.
Most administrators are fully aware that almost all administrative and maintenance tasks can be done remotely. A few weeks ago I received an urgent phone call from a user who could not print reports for an 8 a.m. meeting. However, I was at least half an hour away, stuck in traffic on a typical Dallas morning. I simply connected my Pocket PC to the Internet, established a VPN tunnel, remote-controlled the user's workstation, and restarted the spooler service. The user was able to print her reports, and I met support goals while stuck in gridlock.
A few days later I remotely ran MS Exchange Server repair utilities on a corrupted mailbox store. I was able to repair and restore e-mail services in the same amount of time it would have taken me just to drive to the server location. Best of all, I didn't have to sleep on the couch for ruining another date night! A Pocket PC can replace your cell phones and pagers while giving the IT professional full e-mail access and remote administration ability. Such a powerful support tool can even eliminate the need for a third shift. IT workers no longer have to rush back to the office or their homes to meet their department's support goals. Problems can be dealt with immediately, decreasing downtime, shortening response times, and increasing the overall level of support an IT department provides its organization.
Some serious challenges await IT departments that wish to implement a Pocket PC VPN solution. Cost, battery life, and network availability are just a few of the main challenges. Until very recently, the only Pocket PC device that was even capable of such a role was the HP iPAQ, because it was the only Pocket PC capable of interfacing with a PC Card modem. With the recent introduction of CompactFlash high-speed wireless modems, the range of hardware available to IT departments is greatly expanded. For this article I tested three of the most popular devices: the HP iPAQ 5400 series, the Dell Axim
X5, and the Toshiba e755.
Hardware comparisons
In evaluating Pocket PC devices to make a purchasing decision for the enterprise, the single most important factor is battery life. All new Pocket PC devices have severe limitations in regards to battery life (Fig. 1). This constraint is becoming more livable with advances in power management and extended-life batteries, but despite these improvements, mobile chargers for vehicles and periodic charges throughout the day will be required. Extended-life batteries are a must for effective after-hours support roles. The batteries included on most Pocket PCs are simply unable to provide more than a few hours of use once taken off an external power source. If a device is powered off, real-time alerts, notifications, and phone calls cannot be received, so long standby life is a necessity for effective notification.
Pocket PC Battery Life
comparison
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