ORLANDO - You're expecting, or hoping, that wireless and mobile computing for the enterprise will get simpler to figure out.

You're dreaming.

That's the word from the annual Gartner Mobile & Wireless Summit this year in Orlando. The advice from Gartner analysts to several hundred enterprise attendees in session after session boiled down to "Uncertainty reigns. Plan accordingly."

Gartner Fellow Nick Jones encouraged attendees to hammer out innovative wireless contracts with cellular carriers. But then Jones mentioned that it took one British CIO 12 months to get just a straight data contract from his cellular carrier. Apparently, data minus useless bells and whistles was a bit too innovative for the vendor.

Wireless networks are becoming ubiquitous, he said, as 3G cell networks and wireless LANs (WLAN ) become more prevalent. But he also said that network latency on cellular data networks will remain a problem for years, potentially crippling a range of real-time applications.

Jones predicted sophisticated applications for the future as prices for cellular radio components, such as those of WLANs, continue to drop. Soon, it will be inexpensive enough to put cellular connectivity into commercial freezers, copying machines and other gear, enabling machine-to-machine telemetry and monitoring.

But many attendees seemed to be still focused on much more basic projects, where ROI is either easily calculated or accepted as a given - simply creating wireless access to data, or turning paper business processes into electronic wireless transactions.

Acuity, a Sheboygan, Wis., insurer, is evaluating how to give field-claims adjusters wireless access to corporate applications, possibly with a laptop fitted with a cellular network interface card, said Tina Pokrzywinski, director of IS. "We're due for a technology upgrade," she said. "And our CIO says, 'Wireless is coming, and we need to be ready.'"

Two managers from a Midwest manufacturer, who asked not to be identified, are researching options for creating a mobile-salesforce automation application.

"Our salespeople want to finish off one call report on the way to their next customer, rather than waiting until the end of the day and working late to do it," said one of them, who manages e-business systems for the company. "We're trying to recapture all that idle time and make them more productive."