More about Mobility

I spend a lot of time with customers who want to increase the usage of mobile phones but have concerns about security and costs. There is no single answer that would fit anyone but over time I have formulated a list of questions to ask.
1. Will you use the mobile phone to access more then just email? Intranet, business applications and other applications are on the wish list of most users today. Will that increase your return on your investment?
2. What is the lowest level of authentication you will accept for access to information? Passwords? 2-factor authentication? Does your mobile solution support the authentication system that you already use?
3. What are the security effects on your infrastructure? How many ports do you need to open in your firewall etc etc?
4. Can you accept that your traffic goes trough a 3-party gateway (like the Blackberry solution).
5. How do you manage the mobile and support the mobile phone? Can a phone be updated remotely?
6. Can you control the identity of the actual phone before it is connected to the network?
7. Should information be stored on the phone or centrally?
8. Does the phone have encryption pre-installed or do you need to add that.
There is one more thing I usually tell everybody that wants to listen...make a difference between what you NEED to do...and what is fun to do. I have seen the costs of many mobile projects explode due to the FUN factor. Make a list of features that you need rather then options vendors try to sell to you. One of the features many talk about is the users use of the phone..expensive reports are created for something that you get from your operator for free.