The sheer impossibility of stopping the use of personally owned smartphones and tablets in business settings has led management and IT professionals to the rational conclusion that implementing a plan for application and data segregation is essential. To do that, there are a number of solutions that make sense and can help provide some solution to the problem. Current Analysis (PDF) has a more detailed study that is useful as well. Read more
It seems like whenever the subject is the business use of tablets, the sentence immediately following is focused on the issue of security. It appears to have gotten to the point where there is more emotion that surrounds the issue than there is factual consideration. This is actually quite understandable as tablets are far too frequently lost, stolen, or misplaced, and with up to 128 GB of storage on these devices, we could be talking about a lot of data. That of course doesn’t consider the issue of who might now have access to your systems on a lost device.
So if we remove some of the emotionality, and step back, what are the basic and fundamental steps that we should implement so that tablet use in the office becomes far less scary? Well I have a few. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but some of the basics I think every device should have. Read more
The use of tablets in business will skyrocket. And what makes this growth even more amazing is that we haven’t really seen the impact of tablets that are actually designed for commercial use! We have a bunch of consumer devices that have literally invaded the organization. Imagine what’s going to happen when we get tablets that are designed with commercial feature sets that actually appeal to managers and IT professionals.
One trend we have to consider prior to the device issues is who pays for them. The age of company provided tablets is dawning. This means that the focus on lowest possible price will be mitigated, and the focus will change to what is the right configuration and capabilities. Higher cost isn’t necessarily a problem. Yet, what many of us are interested in is how will the device’s features differ between the versions? There’s a lot to talk about on that front. And certainly many points of view as to what the “right” features are. Read more
By now, I’m sure you’ve all heard about Lenovo’s new tablet with Windows 8 – the ThinkPad Tablet 2. I’m excited about the key security and manageability features it offers IT Managers…and it’s got a great user interface. Check out the specs and related accessories in this new catalog:
When we start to talk about using tablets in an enterprise, one of the first things that must be understood is that the tablets we all know and love are not industrial-strength designs focused on the needs of a commercial organization. Rather, these are consumer-first products that have real limitations when it comes to using them for business. And this isn’t just a hardware discussion, although there are some key hardware differences.
The first large difference that has to be addressed is the operating system. And the operating system is dramatically impacted depending on what the tablet is used for. Consumer tablets are for browsing, running little apps, games, and generally “light-weight” work. Read more
There’s no need to wonder what to do about the proliferation of mobile devices and employees’ demonstrated desire to use those devices at work. So says Gartner in its latest report, based on a survey of IT professionals in large enterprises across the US, EMEA and Asia.
In “User Survey Analysis: Impact of Mobile Devices on Network and Data Center Infrastructure,” the analysts’ advice includes: Read more
Originally Posted by Kevin Beck, Workforce Anywhere
In previous posts we’ve written a lot about how Windows 8 will bring a new user interface to PC and mobile device users. But Windows 8 also introduces many features designed to help IT professionals better manage and protect their enterprise information. One of the more interesting tools IT industry watchers are talking about in this area is Windows To Go. Read more
