By Barbara DePompa

Wireless mobility is changing almost all aspects of the way people work nowadays. Smartphones and PDAs are being used not only for voice calls, text messages and managing personal information, but also for tasks typically completed on a computer, including sending and receiving e-mail, browsing the web, storing and modifying documents, delivering presentations and remotely accessing data.

The recent shift in favor of smartphones and PDAs owes at least some of its strength to the presidential administration. Not long ago, Warren Suss, president of Suss Consulting, Inc., Jenkintown, Pa., said in a recent interview that such devices were only available for high-ranking federal officials who had to go way out of their way to justify their use. “Now, the perception is that smartphones and PDAs are productivity tools and a good investment,” he explained.

Increasingly, law enforcement, emergency management and a range of other government functions are being upgraded with wireless capabilities to increase productivity, accuracy and effectiveness. Handheld devices now feature many of the functions of a PC, including e-mail, web browsing, document viewing, music and video, along with mobile communication features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, multiple forms of cellular service and Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers.

Today, the pressure is on to ensure that public and private sector organizations can centrally manage mobile technologies, said Steve Brasen, Principal Analyst, Enterprise Management Associates, Inc., Boulder, Colo. In his opinion, mobile management solutions are critical to government audiences, and must provide three key features, including provisioning (for downloading applications and automating security patches) secure malware protection (to ensure devices are restricted for authorized use only), and maintenance (to keep users productive). “Managing mobile devices can be difficult because there are so many different types available, and each offers its own brand of proprietary technology,” he said.

RIM officials have long maintained that BlackBerry’s own technology offers government a higher degree of security. Brasen maintains that in federal organizations, the ability to control the distribution, inventory and management of these devices is crucial to ensuring secure government operations.

At least for now, security remains a difficult challenge. “Losing a device or having someone pick it up is far greater with a handheld device that anyone can easily walk out of a building,” Brasen explained.

This is why he predicts a wave of solutions that will lock down handheld devices for use only with specific applications. If a handheld device only functions for one application, it becomes useless for any other purpose. Also, likely to emerge, are solutions that make it easier to recover lost devices. The concept of lo-jack for mobile devices involves using wireless signals to tag (locate) a device and Tag and have it send a signal back that aids in its location. The other key area of concern is data protection, because the use of handheld devices only creates more point of access to government systems and information that are outside the control of agency firewalls. Brasen recommends government data remain encrypted, and that wireless connections must be secured from possible interception, to fully secure smart phones and other handheld devices.