Gartner Predicts Wireless Boom

The corporate move to wireless is expected to be the biggest technology shift of 2003, ‘taking off with a vengeance’ in 2004, according to Gartner Group.

The increasing push behind teleworking, the real-time enterprise and corporate mobility isn’t merely exploiting the wireless market, it’s demanding it, according to Gartner analysts, speaking at a symposium in Florence, Italy. The market also is being fueled by vendors vehemently pushing wireless with huge price cuts and performance improvements.

According to new research by Gartner Dataquest, worldwide end-user spending on WLAN equipment grew by 38% to reach $2.3 billion in 2002. The same year, prices, on average, fell 37 percent. Gartner analysts predict that prices will fall another 25 percent this year.

Despite the sweeping move to wireless and the deep price cuts, it’s still not easy for an enterprise to make the transition.

”Don’t worry about the technology. We have plenty of it and it works pretty well by now,” says Nigel Deighton, a vice president at Gartner. ”Worry about how you’re going to integrate mobility into your working culture. The crucial point is to understand how wireless and mobile technologies can improve enterprise performances, and to start rethinking business processes and working models.”