[asherwiin]

Good article citing CISCO research on the future of tablets within corporations. Reaffirms that RIM should be very well positioned to benefit from the adoption of tablets in the workforce.

Connectit Canada - 2012 to be year of massive change in enterprise tablets


2012 to be year of massive change in enterprise tablets


25 January, 2012
By Mark Cox

A new survey released by Cisco highlights considerable enthusiasm over tablets in the enterprise, and while this is still a nascent market, Cisco says the study indicates 2012 is seen as a year in which enterprise-grade tablet computing will undergo significant change.

Cisco commissioned Redshift Research to survey 1500 IT managers and executives in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany and Spain to assess attitudes, fears and hopes for tablets in the workplace. Redshift polled IT managers and executives in a wide variety of global companies of all sectors and sizes. All respondents are either primary IT decision makers or play a key role in the decision process for all IT products. Sole proprietors were excluded from the study. Field work was conducted in late 2011.

"Mobile workers and virtual workspaces are here to stay--but so are the demands on IT to continue to ensure enterprise-grade security, manageability and interoperability," said Tom Puorro, director of product management, IPCBU, Cisco Systems "2012 promises to be an exciting year and IT leaders are a critical component in unleashing innovation and enabling organizations to take advantage of the next wave of business growth and opportunity. Cisco is keenly focused on helping its customers navigate the post-PC era and transform their business."

In terms of demand, on tablets versus smartphones, globally, IT departments report employees place one tablet request for every three smartphone requests today.

Of the countries surveyed, the US and France are tied for tops. Each report a tablet is requested by 21% of the workforce. Senior executives are most likely to be issued a tablet in the US (38%) and least likely to be issued one in the UK (27%) Tablets are significantly more prevalent among salespeople in Germany (31%) than in all other countries (21% on average).

In terms of concerns, the U.S., the country with the most experience managing tablets, also ranks #1 on the "security issue". 75% of US IT managers said new rules must be established around security and device usage.

In terms of app access, nearly half (48%) of all IT managers surveyed agree that access to company applications should be restricted for all employees. Canada and UK were the top countries in wanting to see restricted access on tablet form-factor devices (55% and 56 %, respectively).

Globally, 48% said their company would never authorize employees to bring their own devices (BYOD), yet 57% agreed that some employees use personal devices without consent. 51% of the respondents reported the number of employees bringing their own devices to work is on the rise. Using personal devices without consent was highest in the US (64%) and lowest in Germany (49%).

Access to company servers was highlighted as a "huge problem" of the "bring your own device" to work phenomena as was lost/stolen devices (64% globally). Globally, 44% say that handling BYOD issues diverts IT attention from other important projects.

In terms of desirable tablet features, globally,three-quarters of IT managers indicated email and document sharing are "must haves." About half agreed or strongly agreed that these are desirable: video conferencing, IM, access to company databases and seamless synchronization with other business devices.

[alnamvet68]

Good article, and RIM has the edge since it is the only pro-grade, highly portable, fully functioning, and highly secure pocket pc on the market.

[rotorwrench]

All these requirements listed are met by the PB and a BB phone, which BB phones still represent the majority of Enterprise phones. For stand alone, after 2.0, the PB will still qualify.

What we need to keep in mind is that the PB already has a foothold in Enterprise tablets and will get stronger as RIM continues to add Enterprise features that enhance the use of it. My company has been pleased with ours and any addition features and functions are icing on the cake.