Working in a group obviously requires teamwork. First and foremost, your Palm devices need to enable your team members to work on common documents and files. Of course, with the recent moves in New Economy companies towards cross-functional teams and integrated information systems to keep communication lines open, there's a viable enterprise place for these applications' use across departments as well. It'll depend on your corporate environment. Think on that and talk to your prospective users before jumping in.

Keeping workers linked through the back-office
Just as it's vital for workers in a group to be able to save files to a common source and electronically send documents to each other from their desktop PCs, it's equally important for mobile workers to accomplish the same tasks via their handheld computers. Fortunately, software vendors have been working hard to ensure that Palm device users can easily synchronize their files with network servers and email files to and from handheld devices.

This is where the back-office infrastructure solutions enter the scene. Aether Systems' ScoutSync Server (at http://www.aethersoftware.com/scoutware_family/ssync_index.php3) and Palm, Inc.'s HotSync Server (at http://www.palm.com/products/enterprise/server.html) both enable your team's applications to be useful in file sharing environments-perhaps in an arrangement where someone from a central location updates files. For instance, a workgroup could use your suite to work on a document that's frequently updated. These files wouldn't be used on a one-to-one basis, rather they'd be used in a situation where many would be coordinating on the same file or document.

Just as you can synchronize with AvantGo and view or browse Web content offline, your chosen applications should offer your mobile workers the ability to pull the most recent information from a server in Word or Excel format. After all, that's the format in which the bulk of a company's work output is created. Having accomplished this task, you would be able to modify the document in the field directly on the device. So, look for tight integration between the device-side applications and these Palm-specific back-office tools as you create your solution.

The spreadsheet: a familiar, productive tool
Cookie-cutter solutions are rarely the answer for an enterprise. The problems you have may be a far cry from the problems other companies need to solve. Customization of the solution is key to getting the most out of the implementation. When Cutting Edge Software introduced Quicksheet 5.0 earlier this year, an available API (Applications Programming Interface) provided enterprise users with the capability to customize their applications and create a myriad of custom handheld solutions involving data acquisition, analysis, and display. The applications you choose should enable you to bend and mold them into the "shape" that best works in your workgroup's particular situation.

Simply put, a Palm spreadsheet should offer application features to help simplify the process of data acquisition, display, and analysis while away from the office. A Palm spreadsheet shouldn't be held up to the same standards of functionality as the copy of Excel you have on your laptop. Don't plan on trying to use it to create the departmental budget for the next fiscal year. Instead, look at the Palm spreadsheet more as a means of replacing forms, providing summary information, or allowing field sales personnel to prepare simple reports. Some other examples of appropriate use are taking inventory in a warehouse, building a sales quote for a customer, managing summary information from an account database, or other processes that requires you to collect data on paper and re-key the information once you return to your office. Once synchronized to a corporate server, this kind of application easily allows for worksheet consolidation and performing summations and data analysis in the unified workbook.