The Mobile Operating System Wars Heat Up

To even seasoned IT operations professionals, the mobile operating system market more resembles the Wild West than the standardized, locked-down PC environments that they're accustomed to managing. Established players like Research In Motion (RIM), Microsoft, Palm, Symbian, and Nokia have been battling for leadership in this market for years, and it was beginning to look like a two-horse race between RIM and Microsoft. But with Apple and Google now joining the fray, what's IT to do? With an eye toward standardization, Forrester recommends that you focus your support efforts on the four leading mobile operating systems: BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Mac OS X, and Symbian. But keep an eye on the others as this battle plays out over the next five years. And more importantly, prepare your business with tools that are device-agnostic so it doesn't matter which platforms ultimately emerge as the winner.