Others see convergence as the coming together of computing and telephony and the emergence of internet protocol networks capable of handling both. A credible alternative is the emergence of telecoms firms with all-in-one service providers offering a triple-play of voice, data and video.

But analysts point to another trend which they claim is receiving too little attention: the blurring of the traditional line between consumer and enterprise technologies.

'Fifteen years ago it was enterprises driving PCs into the home,' said Jack Gold, vice-president for infrastructure strategies with Meta Group. 'But these days it is more likely to be consumers taking iPods with them into the office, where they have also installed instant messaging software and Skype on their desktops.'

In other words, technology deployed by firms is increasingly coming from the consumer space, driven by home users and adapted to meet corporate requirements.

'Managers don't wake up in the morning and say, let's install instant messaging; it is employees using it at home who decide it will enhance their work environment,' Mr Gold said.

'IM is a consumer product. It was conceived as a consumer product and its business model was based around individual subscribers. But it has developed into an industrial tool and companies have developed enterprise-grade versions with enterprise functions, such as enhanced security.'

Mr Gold said it was only a matter of time before video-enabled iPods flooded the marketplace, at which point he expected companies to begin incorporating the devices for video learning or enhancing productivity among sales staff.

But while savvy companies can gain an efficiency boost from incorporating such devices, the trend also risks putting a strain on IT support and the corporate network.

Shiv Bakshi, IDC's director of wireless and mobile network infrastructure, said enterprises were becoming suppliers of services and network operators in their own right to support the growing demands of their users.

'We sit in our office all day, but we are still the same people who go out to socialise and want to watch their kids go to bed. We do not want different devices for that.

'The choice of devices is expanding exponentially, and individuals will be able to make their choices, no matter how much control a chief information officer tries to exert,' he said.

The conflict between IT departments and workers eager to run their bandwidth-intensive devices over corporate networks is only part of the problem.

Mark Shockley, Motorola's vice-president of seamless mobility, said the greater functionality of modern devices also came with potential risk.

Firms may be thrilled that employees can communicate with head office via video phone on the road but they were equally concerned about the prevalence of camera phones in their research and development facilities.