The full-time corporate office where everyone is in the same building all day, every day, is clearly a thing of the past. IT Service Providers are fully engaged with supporting mobile work and, in many respects, is leading the way in helping the organization to increase productivity, enable more effective customer support, attract and retain talent and increase corporate agility. IT is not a barrier to making mobile work programs effective. While there may be many technical issues involved in supporting mobile work, the fact is, in general, IT Service Providers are doing their job so well they make it appear easy. However, ensuring data and network security – as well as reliability and access – remain in the top priority list. Mobile work is a powerful means of enhancing corporate competitiveness. Business Leaders who are not actively supporting mobile work arrangements are putting their organizations at serious risk. So what should you do to ensure that you are providing world-class support to your organization’s flexible work programs?

First, there is no question that supporting work wherever and whenever it occurs is a prime requirement for the modern office. Be sure that your HR and Facilities flexible work programs include policies supporting mobile workers. You don’t have to let security and connectivity standards be compromised. The one thing that keeps effective Business Leaders awake at night is the fear of compromised data. The good news is that Security As A Service (Saas) Providers are maintaining security while enabling mobile workers.

Second, focus IT support for mobility on enhancing customer service capabilities. We believe this perspective is essential because mobility options provide an efficient direct path from customer to employee. While general employee productivity is also important, it usually takes care of itself as mobile workers learn to use technology effectively and adapt it to their personal needs.

Finally, remember that providing remote access to data and company servers is just as important to your mobile workforce as having a laptop and a cell phone. And it has almost as powerful an impact on productivity. The full-time corporate office worker has almost become an exception to the general “rule” of working anytime/anyplace. Technology today enables flexible work, and an increasing proportion of the “new professionals” are moving around frequently, accessing the Internet, their colleagues and company files from wherever they happen to be at any point in time. Like a cell phone number, an Internet email address connects you to a person, not a place.

That new reality is only happening, however, because IT has bought into the concept, is actively supporting it and is implementing the platforms, networks and infrastructures to make it real.

We couldn’t agree more with this reprint of a recent TechNewsDaily report

The success of Apple’s iPad has made consumers keen for tablet computers in general, and worldwide shipments of these devices will jump six times by 2014, according to recent analyst reports.

In a survey of nearly 13,000 consumers in 14 countries, 51 percent familiar with e-readers or tablet computers said they planned to purchase one within a year, while 73 percent said they planned to buy such a product within three years.

“The survey suggests that e-readers and tablets are not a niche product for early adopters but could become the MP3 players of this decade. Grandmothers will soon be carrying them around,” said John Rose of The Boston Consulting Group, which conducted the survey, in a statement.

The survey’s findings jibe with IDC’s prediction that shipments of portable personal computers will spike from 7.6 million this year to 46 million by 2014.

The market will grow as many other major computer and technology companies, including Dell, Sony, Samsung, and Google, have expressed interest in coming out with their own tablet computers in the near future.

However, two big players in this field – HP and Microsoft – recently shelved their post-iPad bids for a share of the tablet marketplace.

Dollars down, sales up

Apple, for its part, sold one million iPads just in the first month of its release through early May.

Key to tablets such as the iPad continuing to go gangbusters will be an anticipated drop in their retail price. The iPad presently goes for $499 on up to $829 for the deluxe version with the most memory capacity and 3G wireless service.

“As with other major mass market consumer devices the prices will come down,” Rose told AFP. “They always do . . . I expect you’ll see the prices come down in the next 12 to 18 months. The first iPod was a $400 device so there’s no reason why we won’t see the same cycle.”