With the increasing ease with which users can access consumer data via their mobile devices, the pressure is now on companies to provide business data and applications to staff this way. Marcus Austin looks at the double whammy this presents to companies in that not only do they have to open up their networks to the outside world, they also have to deal with the challenges presented by the range of mobile devices being used.
What's inside
Consumers are used to downloading data on their mobiles and now want to do the same with their business data and applications. This means that businesses not only need to open up their networks to mobile users, they also have to deal with all the problems that accessing mobile devices entails such as detecting the type of device that's accessing their site, the variety of screen sizes and the variation in connection speeds.
Marcus is a mobile business consultant and edits the Business Mobile (http://www.bmob.co.uk) news and mobile information site.
He started off as a programmer and analyst, but soon moved to Internet and technology journalism, and has spent the last 16 years writing and helping businesses create websites and web communities. As well as editing magazines and websites like Internet Works, Business 2.0, Growing Business, and Startups.co.uk, Marcus also created the Guardian's mobile strategy and launched the m.guardian.co.uk mobile website.
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