Admit it: Mobility-enhanced applications and the mystique of wireless technology itself tickle your fancy. But despite all the interest the mobile and wireless technology market has generated over the past 12 months, it wasn't a breakout year for any particular wireless sector. Sure, wireless LANs are hot, but more in the home than in the enterprise--WLAN equipment sales reached $1.9 billion in 2002, 90 percent more than in 2001, with consumer and SOHO markets driving the growth, according to Aberdeen Group. Yes, 2.5G cellular data has finally arrived, but you won't find business users beating a path to providers' doors for it. And while there has been some forward movement, wireless broadband access services are still crawling along.
But don't get the impression it's all gloom and doom. If there's one good thing to be said about tight IT budgets, it's that they force vendors to provide cost-effective solutions and to show up for their sales calls with a compelling ROI story. So there's plenty of good news to report about mobile and wireless and a wide range of products and services that are deserving of recognition.
Security is not surprisingly the top challenge facing the wireless market. The industry didn't solve this problem during the past year, but there is evidence of significant progress being made; for example, the 802.11i Task Group is currently working on its new security standard, IEEE 802.11i (see "The WLAN's Weakest Link").
Of course, problems in the wireless market extend beyond security. With standards evolving rapidly, there's plenty of anxiety about infrastructure investment protection. Performance concerns fester, with many IT professionals lamenting a return to the good old days of shared-media network systems, a development that has wireless vendors stretching the meaning of a network switch. And the biggest challenge that has network managers scratching their heads: How are they going to manage all this new stuff?
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