Douglas Haider's Most Recent Posts

You know that feeling when you are looking at a Twitter stream and new messages pop up faster than you can even digest the previous messages?  That's the feeling I get when learning about...

There has been an ongoing debate about the feasibility of enterprise IT organizations supporting BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) programs. I clearly believe BYOD programs are the wave of the future. But earlier today, my viewpoint was expanded to the point that I now believe that BYOD is just the tip of the iceberg with regards to the challenges faced by corporate IT.

What's the bigger picture, you ask? Have you heard of "The App Internet"?

I admit it: I have been starstruck in Vegas few times. There was the time I saw Vanna White.  There was the time I saw Mike Tyson.  And there was last week, when I got the opportunity to speak with Matthew Gast. Okay, so Matthew didn't appear in the movie The Hangover, but he is as every bit a heavyweight as "Iron Mike" is, especially when it comes to wireless networking. 

In response to my latest post, "I have an iPad. Now how do I get it on the corporate wireless network?", a reader posted an interesting opinion stating, in part:
"Large companies will never be able or willing to risk allowing BYODs onto their secure networks."

I started typing a reply to his comment when I realized that the content might be better served as its own post. So here's my reply...

I think it goes without saying, but smart phones and tablet PCs are absolutely revolutionizing the wireless & mobile industry.  For example, most of these devices don't even have wired Ethernet ports.

However, that leads to several technical challenges, especially with regard to getting the devices securely onto the corporate wireless network.  In almost every business meeting I have had in the last 3-6 months, someone asks me how to accomplish this. 

I spoke with Cloudpath's Lynn Haney about the two main ways to accomplish this. 

I'm currently attending INTEROP Las Vegas and one trend that I have noticed over the past two or three years is the declining participation of many WLAN infrastructure vendors. 

In fact, of all the major players in Gartner's Magic Quadrant, the only wireless only company that I saw exhibiting was Xirrus, which also provided the Wireless LAN for the show floor. 

Of course, many tech heavy weights like Cisco, HP, Juniper, and Motorola exhibited, but wireless was only a small portion of a much broader product set they were promoting. 

Last week I attended the Certified Wireless Analysis Professional beta course. It was an intense 3-day course that focused on the physical and MAC layers of wireless communication and emphasized both protocol & spectrum analysis. The best part was that I learned something that really surprised me.

A friend of mine once said she likes going to the mailbox because of the possibility of getting money in the mail -an expense reimbursement check, a rebate, or maybe even $5 bill in a birthday card from grandma. I feel the same way about the mail, only it's new books that I keep a watch for. After all, we live in the information age, right?

This time was especially sweet for me since...

I recently received word that the man who is largely responsible for my success in the Wireless Networking industry passed away.

You see, Dr. Jon Barber taught my Physics class at Mounds View High School in Arden Hills, Minnesota. To say that Dr. Barber brought Physics to life is an understatement. I remember one particular demonstration where he...

Simply wanting to listen to my iPod in the car turned out to be a lesson in co-channel interference. You see, I have a vehicle made in 2005. Like most cars manufactured that year, it has neither a cassette deck nor an auxiliary port. Therefore, I was forced to purchase an FM transmitter.

You know what I'm talking about, right? You plug it into your iPod, and then...

It's no secret that I believe mobile and wireless technologies are changing the way we conduct business. Conferences and trade shows are no exception. Events of the future are being tailored to mobile workers. This is especially true with the advent of smart phones as well as new mobile devices, such as Apple's iPad. One such conference I attended recently that had a good handle on this was Forrester's IT Forum in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Forrester used both traditional and new ways to encourage attendees interact with others. One of the more traditional ways...

In case you hadn't heard, a couple days ago, Starbucks recently announced a change to their policy for in-store Wi-Fi. I won't recap all the details, but you can read Network World's recap -- or go straight to the source by reading about the change in the Starbucks Newsroom.

Is free Wi-Fi really all that revolutionary? No, not really.

You probably already heard the news. Steve Jobs had trouble with Wi-Fi based demos at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. In all fairness, there were reportedly over 500 access points operating in the area. That being said, this problem was avoidable.

OK, I am going to go out on a limb here, and say that "I" discovered the next big thing. OK, I didn't discover it, but at least I am fortunate enough to be an earlier adopter. What am I talking about? Let me give you the Gist of it...

While attending the Forrester IT Forum in Las Vegas, NV last week, I met a gentleman named T.A. McCann. T.A. is the Founder and CEO of a company called Gist. As he told me about the company, I couldn't help but think that he was really onto something.

You see, Gist is an application that...

This is my first video blog post for Computerworld. I recorded this video at the Forrester IT Forum in Las Vegas this week with my new Sony Bloggie videocamera.

I interviewed Forrester VP Michael Gale after his session on "The Future of the B2B Technology Marketing Mix" and asked him about the adoption of social media overseas as compared to the United States.