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07/12/2006: "Key Considerations - Any Device"

Having posted last time about the new devices that are coming onto the market I thought that it was worth looking at the next key consideration - device choice. For any mobility solution to be a success it has to have the support of the end users and having a usable device is one way of ensure their buy-in. What device you choose will depend on the application but there are no shortage of options - from the brick like rugged devices from suppliers such as Symbol through to the latest generations of smartphones via the UPMC devices recently announced by Microsoft.

What do you need to consider? Well questions such as:

• what's the battery life? Will it be occasional or heavy usage?


• is keyboard input important?


• do you require phone capabilities?


• what connectivity options do you need? - wifi, gprs, bluetooth


• does the device have to withstand extreme environments?


• is peripherial access required? Such as bar code scanners, printers etc.


• does it need to integrate with an existing email system?


• what remote device management is offered?


• what security options are available on the device?

The other thing to consider is that if you are using a cliented solution for your back end application you will need to ensure that one if available for your chosen device. Many ISVs have clients for Pocket PCs only which will seriously restrict the options. If you are using AppServer then this is a clientless solution and so you have the choice of any device.

It is only when you have considered all the above questions that you can begin to work out a short list of devices. I would strongly recommend that you test drive as many devices as possible to establish each one's strengths and weaknesses. You will prbably find that your existing mobile provider will loan devices for a trial period, which will keep costs to a minimum.

The final device choice may well be a compromise between a device that can actually run the required application and one that has the full feature set you need. As with any implementation forward planning is essential.