A few weeks ago, I told you about how many people were forgetting their laptops in airports. (Check "At Airport X-Ray Machines, a Mountain of Forgotten Laptops" for details.)
Joan Herbig broadens the subject by including all kinds of mobile devices. In "Small devices pose big recovery problems," she quotes big numbers given by (who else could provide these numbers?) Gartner.
Gartner Research estimates that a quarter of a million mobile devices were left in airports last year alone: an incredible figure, considering everywhere else devices can be forgotten or dropped or neglected. Gartner also predicts that by the year 2005, 40 percent of corporate data will reside on handheld devices. The ramifications of this fact are immense. The cost of replacing a $600 device pales in comparison to the costs of leaked NDA information or a pre-empted marketing campaign.
In my July's column, I told you how I avoided to carry a laptop by having a keychain memory device. But if it is an effective solution for individuals, is it appropriate for large corporations?
I received this morning an e-mail from the META Group about these devices. (The full text is available by clicking on the title of today's column.) Here are some excerpts.
Corporate executives are already carrying 2 GB or larger memory devices on key chains and entire miniature computers in high-end PDAs that are capable of tasks like projecting the slides of a presentation. Within a few years, those devices will grow to 10 GB or larger. Currently, 2 GB devices are priced so low that vendors give them away at conferences.
With the capacity of personal memory devices growing even as their price falls, and with flash technology enabling these devices to be made in numerous convenient shapes, usage of these devices is growing rapidly. Executives are already carrying both personal and corporate data, ranging from MP3 files to presentations, on these devices. The device can be plugged into an appropriate system (e.g., an MP3 player to listen to music while flying; a computer to add the latest figures to a spreadsheet or compose a memo; a projector to display slides while making a presentation). It is no longer necessary to carry 20 pounds of laptop computer - just a tiny flash memory device.
The META Group then looks at the very near future.
Within 18 months, users will be able to go beyond data to carry the entire contents of a laptop's hard drive on a device attached to a key ring.
This obviously creates potential problems as well as opportunities, and business and IT organizations need to work together to develop guidelines and rules for using these devices. First, however, they need to understand that they cannot forbid the use of these tiny, cheap memory devices. To do so -- or to create an onerous set of rules -- will simply drive their use underground and remove any control the business may hope to have over them.
Here are some risks associated with these devices:
- These memory devices are vulnerable to theft, loss, and breakage.
- These devices also present another kind of security risk -- the potential for corporate espionage by dishonest employees.
- Mixing personal and business data on the same device also has the potential to create problems.
Once again, what is a blessing for an individual might be a curse for a corporation.
Sources: Jack Gold, Jonathan Poe, Val Sribar, and Doug Laney, from the META Group, October 29, 2002; Joan Herbig, for ZDNet, October 28, 2002
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