Windows Phone Thoughts: Mobile Device Support in the Enterprise - Quite Frankly, There Is None...

"I’ve tangled with complex CRM projects and delivered the goods. With steely determination, I’ve stared down the barrel of enterprise content management projects that have literally made grown men weep. Years after leaving a company, I have responded coolly to panicked calls from former colleagues, quoting seemingly long-forgotten command-line incantations like poetry to help them out of a jam. Tonight, though, I’m tangling with a system so critical that it’s practically an extension of myself. The problem is decidedly unglamorous -- my handheld (a Treo 650) is endlessly rebooting, and I’m off the communications grid. No phone and no PDA means no productivity."

Chad Dickerson, InfoWorld columnist, magnifies a truth that I think most IS departments don't want to face yet. Each new generation of mobile devices (handheld, mobile phone, mobile convergence device) becomes more and more like miniature PCs in our pockets and yet, most IS shops want to treat it like old cellphone technology (i.e. - "it just works"). Likely, it's going to require some high-ranking executive to go through what Chad Dickerson went through before proper attention is paid to mobile device support. Do you guys see the same level of nonchalance at your company?