Blog & Company News

Jul 31, 2012

Tablets Are Going to Work

Everyone knows tablets are great devices for use in a casual setting, with the (in some cases) beautiful screens delivering a rich reading experience or providing rich entertainment value. But many of these tablets are going to work, and it is a trend that appears to be catching on. Bring Your Own Device One of the major pushes behind the modern tablet business entrance is a new policy at many work places that allows the user to bring their own device and use it on the company network. Such policies, collectively being called "Bring your own device" (BYOD), allows for such devices to access corporate email and calendars. In some cases the device is even allowed on the corporate network, allowing access to company documents and other files. The employees taking advantage of a BYOD policy are increasingly using their tablets as their main work device over traditional desktop and laptop workstations. Tablets can now run the entire business day without the need for a recharge, feature instant on for quick notes or information lookup, and are easily carried around for meetings and travel. In fact, modern tablets could almost be looked at as one of the more business friendly devices to have come along in a while. So it makes sense that their use in such environments is increasing as policies towards their use are being adopted. Fortune 500 Companies Are Tablet Savvy Apple CEO Tim Cook dropped an interesting statistic during the most recent iPad unveiling and it might be something that other companies might want to take notice of. According to Cook, 92 percent of the Fortune 500 companies are using tablets as part of their IT infrastructure.[1] It would seem that anything that permeates 92 percent of the Fortune 500 would be worthwhile to at least investigate if not emulate, and tablet usage would be no exception. This is especially true if you consider that this number is up from the 65 to 80 percent in the previous year. Consumers Are Planning On Business Use According to a recent survey, consumers of iPads are increasingly planning business specific use for their tablets. Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) released a report from a survey on 1000 iPad buyers, which ran from December 2011 through April 2012. Of those buyers, 21 percent planned on using their tablets for business. This is an increase of 8 percent from their earlier survey.[2] Given the volume at which iPads are selling, 21 percent is an extremely high number of tablets entering the work force. In fact, you should definitely not be surprised to see tablets in use at practically any business you encounter. Tablets of All Forms If you were to look at the manufacturer of the typical business tablet you would find any number of makers. While the iPad continues to be the dominant player in the modern tablet field, many Android tablets are also playing their part in keeping the wheels of business turning. With Microsoft preparing to enter the fray, it seems certain that the business tablet will be as varied as the typical business computer. Currently, businesses are favoring the 10 inch tablet due to the proliferation of the iPad. With that form factor favoring a typical sheet of paper, it is easy to see its adoption into the business process. But with the introduction of many 7 inch tablets into the market, it will be interesting to see if they too make it into the meeting room. Given the typical 7 inch device's ease of portability along with its capable architecture, it’s safe to say we will see them adopted by the business user. Tablets have become a consumer favorite, and you will find users in age ranges from 2 to 102. You will find tablet users across the globe and in numerous settings and in businesses just about everywhere. If the current trend continues, which it will, you will find them hard at work a lot more than you have in the past. Maybe even in your office.
[1] 92% of the Fortune 500 companies are testing or deploying iPad [2] The Office Finds More Space for the iPad