Organizations have long recognized that providing mobile access to information using WLANs can improve the bottom line. In one of the most systematic studies of WLAN benefits, NOP World Technology, a British research outfit owned by United Business Media, concluded that companies implementing WLAN technology can increase the amount of time an enterprise network is available by 70 minutes per day for the average user, boosting his or her productivity by as much as 22 percent. This study did a good job of identifying the types of organizations that benefit most from WLAN deployment and the types of applications for which the technology is best suited. If the employees in your organization spend all day, every day, glued to the computers in their cubicles and don't have much need for mobility, you won't see many benefits from a WLAN, save perhaps for reduced wiring costs. At the other extreme, if mobile access to information can transform your business processes, you can look forward to some significant ROI (return on investment).
The link for this article located at Network Computing is no longer available.