Mobile devices present integration challenges

Today's mobile workforce is using mobile tools for communication and computing. To stay connected and keep up with their workflow while on the road, many workers have turned to smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), notebook computers, and other portable devices that provide network and Internet connectivity. While on the road, these mobile workers may want access to enterprise applications and databases. When they circle back to home base, they will likely want to upload information from their portable devices into their primary workstations or onto the company network. These activities raise critical access and security concerns. The author considers how integration is a particular problem because the portable devices operate on a variety of platforms and use a variety of communications protocols.