Taking a look at the US--land of all things IT--802.11b seems to be everywhere. These days a conference is not a conference without it. Many IT professionals are make notes to their Web sites during conferences, and also asking the moderator questions via a Web interface.
Nor are Wireless LANs only present in conferences in the US--they are ingrained in other parts of society there. People are making use of 802.11b technology from a wide variety of locations such as airports, hotel rooms, from toilets in conferences, coffee shops, and even when lazing on a beach in San Francisco. Those people have come to expect the access to be there.
This is not meant to be an article praising Americans for their rapid deployment of the technology, but rather showing that Australia is lacking in take-up of 802.11b, for no good reason which I can see.
Why is Australia apparently lagging? Is it due to network or systems administrators fearing access into a company's systems? Or is it due to management not wanting employees having such a degree of freedom?
A WLAN can run on an untrusted network with a VPN link to the trusted network, running IPSEC, which should calm even the most stringent of administrators. A WLAN also allows an employee the ability to move around the office. This means that they can go to meeting and be sure that their laptop will be connected. Or it could allow the staff member to sit in a quiet area to think or work.
If employees are really lucky, like myself, they may even be able to sit across the road in a park and still be able to access the network. An efficient employee is a happy employee--for employers this would be improved productivity, and moral, through improved flexibility.
I know that Wireless LANs will boom in Australia. It is only a matter of when IT and HR managers realise the associated benefits of this technology.
Wade Millican is XDDS Engineer, South Asian operations, at Xpedite and can be contacted at w.millican@xpedite.com.au. He holds an MCP.
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