Even those companies that are sold on wireless are judicious about what information is allowed on their networks.
"Given the kind of data that we're dealing with, the trade-off between productivity and security is worth it, in terms of risk," Webcor's Davis said, "but we still keep payroll and all accounting information on a different network."
The persistent concern for security has given rise to a cottage industry of companies dedicated to developing software, servers and policy for wireless gear, including Wi-Fi Protected Access protections that can be built directly onto certain chips. Industrywide measures are also being developed, such as a security standard known as 802.11i, which is expected to be completed by midyear.
Besides security, several factors can help determine how quickly businesses embrace wireless. As they do when evaluating any potential technology, companies must consider employee learning curves and related training and maintenance issues, as well as outright costs. But these obstacles to adoption are already being overcome in the wireless realm, according to Frank Plastina, chief executive of Proxim, which makes networking equipment with built-in security and network management software.
"We will see [wireless adoption] in a more pronounced way because of the two factors that are almost forcing [information technology] groups to deploy," Plastina said. "The first is the proliferation of Wi-Fi networks in homes and people getting used to using it. Secondly, the whole [cycle of businesses upgrading their PC]: Wi-Fi is being included in client devices, mainly notebooks, as a standard, which is a huge advantage from an incremental-cost point of view -- there essentially isn't one."
Webcor's Davis said it would be difficult to put a dollar figure on the productivity increases that resulted from Webcor's use of wireless technology. But he does know that wireless saved him a lot of headaches.
At the very least, he didn't have to figure out how to run cables to the St. Regis site or worry about damage to expensive PCs from the omnipresent dust and dirt of a construction site. In addition, the technology had benefits that extended beyond the project at hand, as workers could check progress more efficiently and thus move on to the next job more quickly.
"For us, it was all a matter of flexibility," said Davis, whose company has about 1,000 employees and $1.4bn in projects under contract. "Every job site has the potential to be a temporary office, so being able to set up a site in one day, then tear it down two weeks later, is tremendously helpful."
