Intranets on mobile devices - where are we with this idea?

I've just participated in a survey where my thoughts were brought back to intranets on mobile devices. Where are we with this idea?

Back in 2007, when the iPhone was unveiled, I wrote on my previous employer's blog:

"On the state-of-the-art new Blackberry Pearl and similar phones, Google search looks like Google search but the rest of the web is a minimal, lifeless shell compared to it’s full-sized computer brethren.

This also means accessing a corporate intranet on a phone is - if not completely impossible - often akin to having impacted wisdom teeth pulled out when the anaesthetic is wearing off.

I went on to highlight the probable impact of the iPhone on our mobile web use, and wondered what this would do for intranets:

So, if not this year then maybe next, browsers on all sorts of phones will likely have full web capabilities and will be able to access full blown corporate intranets just as you would if you were on your laptop.

Employees of all levels – because it won’t take long for the idea to filter down to even the cheapest phones - really will have mobile internet on their phones.

Since then, some of the most extensive versions of intranet apps on mobile devices I've seen/read about are two specific people finder apps, one for Blackberry devices from  Andrew Mitchell at Urbis (pictured right, click to enlarge). Another was from Mallesons Law Firm, which developed a people-finder application for the iPhone having done a similar one for Blackberry.

Other than those two purpose-designed apps:

• Swiss Post won a commendation in the 2008 Intranet Innovation Awards for their own "Intranet Lite" which was a stripped down extranet that easier to navigate, although not strictly designed for mobile devices; and
• Allen Huish from BA talked about homepage size limits to ensure fast loading on mobile devices.

What else is out there? Has anyone else successfully pushed their intranet to a mobile device, or designed an iPhone/Blackberry/Android application for users?

The idea is straightforward enough, although there are many variables: security, device, network speeds etc.

Chatting more with Andrew Mitchell, the use of specific Blackberry devices connected with Urbis' Blackberry enterprise server means they can bypass security concerns, passwords etc. and can design a site with certain devices and speeds in mind.

It was also interesting to read Luis's account of using his iPhone for work, and intranet browsing/email via VPN, but watching sadly as the battery was drained in an hour (a dealbreaker for an Enterprise tool, says Luis).

I'm still of the opinion that we'll see many more mobile-friendly intranets in the future. In fact, I also think we're not too far away from a situation where the majority of employees are given mobile devices as a matter of practice when they start.

The idea of pushing the intranet, its related tools and internal/corporate communications to a device that can manage computing and browsing, but also documents via e-ink (Kindle style), has huge potential. But it seems we're not there yet.

What do you think?