Tech vendors seem to be cranking up the hype surrounding enterprise mobility, which shouldn't come as a surprise given the popularity of mobile apps for consumers. But enterprise software makers may be moving too fast in the race to sell off-the-shelf apps to businesses, cautions CIO magazine's Thomas Wailgum. In the frenzy to meet the demand of employees wishing to use consumer technology, applications not quite ready for enterprise use are almost sure to hit the shelves.

"I can see some CIOs caving too quickly to users' well-intentioned but ill-formed demands for mobile apps," Wailgum writes. "Instead of playing the 'trusted advisor' role and advocating for mobile deployments that link to business strategy and can demonstrate ROI, CIOs may be coerced into signing off on these new mobile apps."

The vendors' eagerness to release mobile apps combined with pressures from employees to use them could result in a tech purchasing spree along the lines of the ERP or Y2K shopping frenzies, he warns. The risks are significant with enterprise mobility, and so is the work involved in security, piloting, technology selection and calculating ROI. Although vendors may be in a hurry to mobilize just about any application, there are a lot of business processes that don't require it. 

"Think hard about whether your iPhone-toting finance personnel really needs anytime/anywhere access to the company's ERP applications," Wailgum advises.

For more:
- see Thomas Wailgum's column at CIO

Related Articles:
Pew Research: Nearly one-quarter of U.S. adults use apps
Salesforce.com beefs up social networking tools
Why smartphones will rise in the enterprise (slideshow)
Motorola, Microsoft unveil new offerings for mobile enterprise