The global mobile workforce is expected to grow by more than 20% in the next four years, with 878 million mobile workers toiling away on laptops, handhelds and cell phones by 2009, according to a recent study by IDC. But as the number of mobile workers rises, the research firm is sounding an alarm that IT staffers assigned to support them may not be ready.

"Mobile management tools have made sense for IT to deploy for many, many years ... but only a small portion of companies are using them, because they don't want to spend the money," said Ken Dulaney, an analyst at Gartner Inc. in Stamford, Conn.

IDC analyst Kevin Burden, one of the authors of the recent study, said interest in mobile support has increased as IT shops try to figure out what they should be doing.

"IT managers are starting to realize that mobile [technology] support is different from supporting a laptop in an office," Burden said. "IT departments have traditionally just wanted it to be easy and have been building mobile solutions piecemeal. "Cost is the biggest barrier to providing mobile IT resources, since IT managers have demands coming from all over," he added.

Source: ComputerWorldPrashanth RaiTag(s):Mobile, IS