2011: The Year Mobile Figured Out IT, And Vice Versa

Thanks to Erin Moloney (@erine) for sending me the link.

Bob Tinker, the CEO of MobileIron, has a nice article on Forbes.com about Mobile and IT,  He makes five great points as to why Mobile figured out IT.

1. Mobile IT is interdisciplinary
2. Mobile IT is fast
3. Mobile IT is mult-platform
4. Mobile IT is driven by users
5. New security thinking is required

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I like where he’s going.  Bob doesn’t assume that we solved everything.  He just notes that IT is starting to wrap their arms around it and have taken steps to really get a handle on the mobile problem.  Here’s a couple of my favorite quotes:

With mobile, IT must face multiple operating systems revving at consumer speed every 3 to 6 months. New handsets and tablets show up every few weeks. In the last few months, we’ve seen new Windows 7 devices from Nokia, the Kindle Fire, iPhone 4S, and new software releases of Android Ice Cream Sandwich and iOS 5. RIM issued the PlayBook. Then recalled it. Then issued it again. HP launched the Touchpad, and then killed it.

………

Adding to the complexity is the wide array of development choices. Native app development can yield great results but may have to be duplicated across several OSes. Third-party Mobile Enterprise Application Platforms (MEAPs) offer the promise of write once, run everywhere, but then a Mobile IT team needs to figure out which one to use and establish it as the company standard

…..

It’s a great time to be in IT.

Let me reiterate that last point, it is a great time to be involved in this.  As long as you are the one embracing the change and working with it, these are great times.