Robby Miller
Mr. Carroll
NT1210 / Fri. Night

Wi-Fi in the Corporate Environment Business is much different today than it has ever been. The strategies incorporated in the success of a business can be quite complicated and requires more than just a man or woman with a dream. Success in business is now reliant on the connectivity of their business to their local area, as well as, the global market place. Wireless connectivity (Wi-Fi) in the corporate environment is making this possible and beyond possible as it improves. In this paper we will see some pro’s and con’s of wireless connectivity in the corporate environment. Corporations are looking to go wireless for many different reasons. These range from having less wire to having office resources available in the office and in the field. Many companies realize that field productivity and efficiency is slowed down to limited resources of company information. Corporations find that customers sometimes have to wait for price quotes and in turn lose some of those to the competition, since they did not get their information fast enough or the customer was forgotten about. Unfortunately, these things happen in the corporate environment and with the new 802.11g and 802.11n technology, connectivity to company resources is reaching higher levels than ever, so much so, that Wi-Fi is becoming a must in most business environments. More people are using their phones, PDA’s, iPads, and laptops while traveling or away from their desk to get their work done. There are some pros and con’s to wireless connectivity, but for the most part the cons seem to outweigh the cons. This is why many and all are turning to Wi-Fi to stream line their network architecture. This turn to wireless connectivity is also driving a new way of advertising, by drawing customers to business’ by offering them wireless connectivity. Wi-Fi keeps the customers in the stores longer allowing the potential for a larger amount of sales. According to Martin B. Dunsby, global wireless initiative leader of Deloitte Consulting, the standardization of the 802.11b standard is “becoming more of a corporate standard and are recognizing that this is something that has a broad value.” The pros with this wireless craze are pretty clear cut. First, we see that it is easy to deploy, both in public and private environments. Essentially, an owner could stop at a local Staples, or CompUSA and pick up everything they need to become wireless in their offices. Second, the price is right. The average cost to set up your wireless network is about the same or slightly larger from scratch, but the long term cost of Wi-Fi networks are much less expensive. Wi-Fi networks are good for dense areas such as airport’s, malls, hotels, and colleges. Third, wireless networks enable faster log-in of inventory in warehouses. It’s also good for business’ to use to attract consumers. Restaurants can lure people in to do their homework or to do the work or project that may be due at work. While people are there, naturally they will buy a drink at minimum. These small sales are a bonus to them. Some of the cons associated with Wi-Fi are security of LAN’s, not designed for broad areas and carriers are starting to charge for bandwidth. The security is getting better with wireless connections as standards change. Beyond that, the ability to have public and private networks is really what enables the best security. Along with firewalls in the routers and additional physical firewalls that can be added security is really just as good as a wired network. As the wireless standards progress the range gets better. As soon as devices are able to switch between 802.11, 3G, and 4G networks the broadest ranges will be reached and the demand of wireless networks will be in full force. One of the last and most dangerous opponent’s to wireless connectivity is that there is no definite way to price bandwidth. The inability to gauge the worth of bandwidth is a major hick-up to wireless networks. Providers such as AT&T have done away with unlimited data plans due to the data being used by the iPhone’s and iPads of Apple. This is a red flag and a green flag at the same time. If AT&T is charging for data and making money, then the trend of provider’s charging for data could take-off and cause inflation of wireless connectivity. The upside could be that user’s jump ship and begin using other providers instead of one or two major providers. AT&T charging for data is scary too, since it could flag that they are reaching the limits of their bandwidth capabilities. It could be safe to say, AT&T has just figured out a way to make more money without introducing new and innovative technology. In conclusion, the use of wireless technology in the corporate environment is taking off. It seems from the research I have done that companies are excited about the progress being made in wireless connectivity. Wi-Fi is the future for businesses. As more and more companies have traveling employees and work-at-home employees the demand will grow for wireless connectivity. Productive mobility is where the corporate environment has come and will continue to go.

Works Cited

Omatseye, Sam. "802.11B Business Holds Promise For Vendors." RCR Wireless News 20.25 (2001): 2. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 7 May 2012.

Blackford, John. "Businesses Warm Up To Wireless Networking." Hudson Valley Business Journal 14.13 (2003): 15. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 7 May 2012.

Rash, Wayne. "Enterprise Wireless: It's All About Work." Eweek 27.13 (2010): 16. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 7 May 2012.