Wireless Technology Vital to Increased Business Productivity

This new reality is highlighted by a recent study, in which many respondents point to the expanding mainstream success of wireless technology as a key success factor to their ability to succeed in an increasingly mobile market.

WIRELESS ADOPTION CURVE

One of the more interesting trends in wireless adoption is the steady expansion of wireless technology out of its early vertical industry strongholds in sectors such as healthcare and retail. Many experts point out that wireless growth from early adopters is spreading across the enterprise, as they expand from their early use in vertical industry-specific applications to more general applications such as ERP, field service and voice.

Thirty percent of respondents characterise themselves as either innovators or early adopters in the wireless arena, while a further 42 percent rated themselves as early majority adopters. This result supports expert opinion that points to increased wireless momentum across the enterprise. “The market initially started out in hot verticals such as manufacturing, healthcare and retail, and moved into pilots for WiFi in large enterprises and SMBs,” says Stan Schatt, vice president at ABI Research in Oyster Bay, NY. “Now we’re starting to see WiFi networks being built out, so there’s considerable growth in larger installations.”

The bottom line here is that wireless is heading for the mainstream. “There’s a lot of momentum infusing wireless technology in the enterprise today,” says Samir Sakpal, program manager of mobile and wireless communications, North America, at Frost and Sullivan, a research and consulting firm in San Antonio, TX.

Indeed, Gary L. Allen, Executive Director, Office of Technology in the Amarillo Independent School District in Amarillo, TX, sees wireless use as common in the education sector. “It is fairly mainstream now and will continue to grow rapidly,” he says, characterizing his school district as a mainstream adopter. “Wireless is an important strategy we are currently using to improve productivity of principals, assistant principals, individual teachers and students. The importance will continue to grow as the bandwidth increases and the connection speeds increase.”