Making a Case for Tablets in the Enterprise
26 BY JONATHAN HASSELL H
ave You Heard the Buzz About Tablets?
These keyboard-less handheld devices are large
enough to work on for an extended time, but small and light enough to be portable. As the Apple iPad and the Samsung Galaxy start appearing in more consumer hands, you might be wondering what these tablets mean for the enterprise—and how you should respond when users start clamoring for them.
Where do tablets make sense? At this point in time,
you’ll get the best bang for your organization's buck in 3 areas: video and Web conferencing, sales applications, and data entry.
Video and Web Conferencing Since tablets provide stunning visuals and a rich
media experience in a portable platform, they´re ideal for conferencing users. The tiny screens on mobile phones haven´t been a big boon for video and Web conferencing, but a 9.7" full-color iPad display, for example, makes it much easier to put a face with a name. Combine this display with the ability to share documents and Web sessions, and you have a compelling solution via a simple wireless connection, rather than a clutter of cables, video ports, RGB cords, and a non-mobile footprint. Tablets let you conference in your office, in a briefing room, in a coffee shop, or almost anywhere else with Wi-Fi.
Sales Applications Your sales team is already full of mobile veterans.
They’re always on the road, and they need a conferencing and presentation tool as well as a device that can assist with simple data entry, such as putting proposals and orders into a customer relationship management (CRM) system. In addition, tablets are attractive to people who spend extended periods of time on planes, and combining a sales tool with a productivity device is a winning mix for sales and client-service teams. For even more productivity, consider tablets with the 3G chip—these are particularly useful for road warriors.
Data Entry Users who work with inventory and other specialized
applications probably already have specific devices. However, the clerical staffers and workers who deal with back-office data entry, CRM or accounting systems, blogs, profiles, or Wikis can take advantage of the portability offered by tablets. While tablets aren´t great for dictation,
Where Should You Begin? Despite the popularity and potential usefulness of
tablets, they´re not wholesale desktop replacements. The lack of a physical keyboard prevents many users from getting real work done. Furthermore, current tablets don´t run Windows, and therefore can´t participate in managed network policies such as Group Policy. This makes them difficult to administer and secure.
Regardless, senior staffers in your organization will
probably ask you about tablets soon—if they haven´t already. It makes sense for these members of your team to be a “pilot” group so you can have a sense of how tablets will interact with your business´s systems and processes.
Over the next year, prepare yourself to answer an
onslaught of access and procurement questions from legions of users who see tablets in use in many scenarios in their daily lives. Since the Microsoft tablet seems a long way away, look for tablets that have the best chance of integrating with your existing back-end systems and for tablet operating systems with strong management and security features.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jonathan Hassell is an author, consultant and speaker residing in Charlotte, N.C.
detailed spreadsheet work, or letter or other content creation, they provide a unique way to manage bits and bytes of information and keep systems updated.
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