Getting in on going mobile

This summer marks the sixth anniversary of the purchase of my first cell phone. Iresisted getting one for a long time, but circumstances changed, and I felt I hadto have it.Last year, I turned in my cell phone for a smartphone. Now I can send e-mails, surf the Web, get directions,send text messages, keep my calendar and ? oh,yes ? make phone calls. Although I wish I could do myonline banking with it, my device probably has morecapabilities than I know of or need right now.As you'll learn in this week's cover story, we are justscratching the surface of mobile applications. StaffWriter Doug Beizer explains that mobile devicesand applications have a well-established base in thefirst responder and defense communities and areexpanding into other parts of the marketplace.New applications ? even training modules ?are being developed for handheld devices.Security is still somewhat of an issue, but eventhat has gotten better. It is hard to imagine any jobwhere you are managing people and informationthat doesn't have potential mobile applications.Don't think that if you don't make a mobile device you can't participate inthis growing market. The push is on to make many older applications and databasesaccessible to and usable by mobile devices.That back-office work might be as lucrative as deploying the devices themselves.What's more, think of the intimate knowledge you'll gain about your customersif you help bring their systems into the mobile world.The spoils will belong to the quick and the imaginative.