As wireless handsets become more computer-like, both corporate IT departments and wireless carriers are reaching the same conclusion – they need the capability to manage the devices themselves as well as what is on them.

That concern is making mobile device management (MDM) one of the emerging trends in 2005, with a multitude of options that allow automatic software upgrades on handsets or synchronization of specific applications or content. The Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) even has a working group developing protocols and specifications for various forms of device management.

Mobile device management is often seen as an extension of an enterprise IT system's management functions, which typically have focused on networks and computers and involved such things as configuring and maintaining software and hardware. Mobile devices entered that space, first through synchronization and increasingly as stand-alone platforms.

Analyst Iain Gillott, in a survey of large enterprise IT departments, discovered that 29 percent of the IT managers were managing their companies' wireless devices manually, a labor-intensive process. What's more, 9 percent didn't manage the devices at all. On the positive side, Gillott says, most IT managers are using some kind of software platform to manage wireless devices.

Enterprises aren't alone in device management. Carriers also offer over-the-air software updates for some of the most basic handsets and are stepping into more complex management for smarter devices. "Over the last few months, we've talked to a dozen different mobile operators who have all of a sudden become aware of mobile device management," says Peter Cohen, corporate marketing vice president for Red Bend Software. "Around the world, this is becoming a hot topic."

Red Bend works with handset manufacturers such as Siemens and Sony Ericsson, platform providers like Openwave and IBM, operating systems such as Symbian, and traditional Internet companies like AOL and Real Networks.

Cohen says MDM will hit a broad market in 2005, in part because handsets are becoming more sophisticated, carriers recognize the need to deal with these handsets and solutions based on OMA standards are appearing.

OMA's current MDM standard, version 1.1.2, has catalyzed interest among vendors, in effect giving a boost to the number of solutions coming out, Cohen says. "Once you have broad agreement on standards and a number of vendors are implementing those, you gain a critical mass. A lot of vendors are embracing the standards," he says.

Cohen says virtually every Tier I carrier globally has an active evaluation going on or is in the procurement phase.

An example is Vodafone in Japan, which recently started selling two Motorola handsets bundled with the Mobile PhoneTools developed by BVRP Software, part of a global deal BVRP has with Motorola. BVRP also signed a deal with a Portuguese W-CDMA carrier that wants to use Mobile PhoneTools for provisioning and other management functions.

BVRP's Mobile PhoneTools is a Windows-based program designed for laptops so they can connect to the Internet using the mobile phone as a modem. David Wright, head of OEM sales for BVRP, says carriers have realized in the last year that they not only must provide their customers with data services but also must help them use the services. BVRP's software allows users to manage the data on their handsets.

Aiming at a similar audience is Mobile Action, a Taiwan-based company that recently introduced a CDMA version of its Handset Manager for the North American market. The software, sold through distributors such as Tecnocel as well as retailers, is a Windows-based system that integrates handsets and laptops.

Device management often is built into other platforms targeting either the enterprise or the carrier. An example is Intellisync's goAnywhere software, which not only provides e-mail and PIM synchronization but also management functions like provisioning. The Intellisync Mobile Suite also provides handset configuration, theft or loss protection, backup or restore, and software or firmware (the device's OS) updates.

Some companies – including Bitfone and Innopath – have focused on products that allow over-the-air updates to the handset's firmware. Analyst Gerry Purdy of MobileTrax thinks an emerging area is updates for the applications layer on phones.

"That's an important new area as the assets on these devices become particularly important to enterprises," Purdy says. "It's not just who you call or who's in your address book, but how you're using your device effectively."