For years, those insurers that chose to reject wireless and mobile strategies complained there was no "killer app" that made wireless technology completely necessary for them. They grumbled, of course, while talking on their cellular phone, checking e-mail on their BlackBerry, and wondering how best to service their customers and their agents. There is no mystery to the value of wireless technology–it's everywhere we work. As more forward-looking companies are embracing wireless, the naysayers are getting fewer. However, the growing ranks of wireless users have come to realize before getting too far along, they need to chart a clear path.

Wireless strategies must be a component of a larger company strategy, according to Kimberly Harris-Ferrante, research vice president for Gartner. Many companies have built siloed strategies, and those in charge of these silos often fail to communicate well with their counterparts, so companywide strategy is lost. "[Each business unit] is one prong in a multiprong strategy," she says.

Rod Travers, senior vice president, technology, for Robert E. Nolan Co., advises clients to take a step back. "Many of them have multiple devices, multiple contracts in place, and multiple dependencies on different technologies," he says. "Take a step back, look at what you're trying to accomplish from a business standpoint across all those needs, and define your strategy. What is it you're trying to accomplish–in the near term and in the long term–and what are the enabling technologies that can help you do that?"