Corporate iPad Users Have No iDea Why They Have Them
Corporate iPad Users Have No iDea Why They Have Them
Posted 05/17/2011 at 12:07pm
| by Brad Chacos
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Turns out, its not only Apple fanatics and Angry Birds-lovers who have fallen heads-over-heels for the iPad. A recent survey shows that an increasing number of businesses do too – 68% of the businesses interviewed either already deployed tablets or planned to do so by the end of 2012. Unlike Apple-heads and Angry Birds-heads, however, the businesses can't quite tell you why.
Over 50% of the companies surveyed by Dimensional Research said they flat-out didn't have a plan for those spiffy new tablets they were handing out, other than "Oooooh, shiny." Of the companies that did have a tablet PC strategy, the majority of them liked to use the devices to process paperwork and provide apps for salesmen on the run. Other reasons cited include keeping on top of financial information and customer service support.
While corporate buyers may not like the idea of spending money on $500 paperweights, the folks at Apple must be dancing in the street. A full 83% of correspondents said the iPad was the tablet of choice in their office. That's not surprising considering that they don't have any, you know, productivity plans for the devices. In related news, we expect sales of Angry Birds to improve in the fourth quarter.
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b52junebug
May 18, 2011 at 10:01am
Okay so the reason that most of the companies jumped on the iPad bandwagon has to do with a lack of a Mobility Strategy.
As we as admins all know, when the CEO comes to the CIO and says hey I want to use this handy new piece of equipment, the CIO will do everything to incorporate it. Including taking on a larger assumed risk to see that it will be put into the network with little to some controls/policies. To ease their conscience they will throw whatever piece of mobile management software into their network and pray that someone will learn it.
Until we all press our management staff to come up with a solid plan which includes a policy, worst case scenarios and a solid mobility management solution, we will continue to live with the inherent risks associated.
Also the mindset that Tablets, Smartphone’s, etc are secondary pieces of equipment and not essential to ones job is completely outdated and wrong. Too many times have we heard my Blackberry/iPhone isn’t getting email, isn’t making phone calls and our users are devastated by this. We conclude that the user can just pull out their laptops or use their desk phone. The user doesn’t see it that way. They feel that IT is trying to stymie their productivity by making them use their computer or a desk phone to perform their job functions.
ViewRoyal
May 18, 2011 at 9:29am
These must be the same corporate users that also have no idea why they have a desktop/notebook PC... or why the sun goes down at night... or where babies come from ;-)
gman5541
May 18, 2011 at 9:02am
Why Corporate Users have iPads? Simple:
1. iPads are lighter and cheaper than either PCs or Laptops
2. There are productivity apps available for the iPad that can do a variety of things from creating Microsoft Office-compatible documents to performing teleconferencing (assuming you got the iPad 2).
3. The iPad has even shown to have some surprising vertical market applications like converting them to point of sales (POS) terminals and interactive restaurant menus.
It's sad that companies don't have an idea of what to do with the iPad, but to suggest the iPad doesn't have any corporate or business applications is at the most disingenuous.
big_montana
May 18, 2011 at 1:23pm
You are correct on them being lighter and cheaper, but that is the only point I will concede. I support a law firm with over 250 attorneys, and they want to use tablets the same way they use their notebooks, reading/composing email, reading/editing/creating/annotating documents of all formats, Word, Excel, PDF. PowerPoint, etc. The iPad just does not work well for productivity work, and this includes working in citrix, as using Citrix on an iPad/iPhone or any other mobile device that is not a notebook is pure hell. Using a second party office suite to be able to work on MS documents does not cut it either, as you lose a lot of the formatting in the conversion process. Forget about editing or annotating PDF's on an iPad, as it cannot be done, as it is not a supported format. You have to convert it to ePub format first, then upload it using iTunes, or use dropbox. To many steps involved to get any work done. Our employees just want to be able to open a document or email and just work with no extra work involved. That is why my firm does not officially support the tablet craze yet, as they are not enterprise friendly. When there are some Windows viable tablets on the market, then maybe, until then it is notebooks or netbooks, that's it.
b52junebug
May 18, 2011 at 10:07am
gman5541, I can only agree with you to a small extent. Many corporations don't have any idea how to incorporate apps into their business. Especially on a technology that is evolving so quickly. They don’t understand the capabilities and therefore let their users dictate how this new technology will be used. They look at what ever their product lines are and ask why do I need an app, we sell widgets.
Until the corporate structure is educated on the validity and importance of having standard apps or apps period that allow their users to be more productive, we will continue to enable and support ignorance.
bling581
May 18, 2011 at 9:47am
"It's sad that companies don't have an idea of what to do with the iPad, but to suggest the iPad doesn't have any corporate or business applications is at the most disingenuous."
I don't see where the article says there's no point for the iPad in the corporate world. The message of the article was that most people buy into fads and "Oooooh, shiny." Even if they have no plan at all with how to utilize them they think it looks cool to sport new tech.
Bustout
May 17, 2011 at 6:00pm
My company would like to start issuing tablets instead of laptops since they tend to be cheaper than the laptops we're issuing the sales people and the form factor would be perfect for the sales reps that are going to be the end users, however, we can't justify doing this yet because they can't run the applications that we need them to. iPad is definitely not the way to go for us. Neither is the xoom, though it is closer to our needs. Is there such a thing as a good windows tablet?
Baer
May 17, 2011 at 6:57pm
I think that the iPad suprised the industry. For CES last year a bunch of iPad wannabees were rushed out. Now there are some really good tablets under development. Just wait about 6 months, I bet you will be glad you did.
Holly Golightly
May 17, 2011 at 6:50pm
Hmm, I am not sure how good it is... But this might be suitable for you...
HP Slate 500
https://h30406.www3.hp.com/campaigns/2010/promo/HPSL/index.php?jumpid=ex_r602_go/slate
It runs on Windows, which is what most companies use... So it should be fully compatable with the all of the latest office software.
I hope this was helpful... Best of luck for your Sales Team.
Bustout
May 18, 2011 at 10:26am
Thanks,
I put us on the waiting list with our HP vendor to recieve a demo model to see if it meets our needs.
Much appreciated.
MattyMattMatt
May 17, 2011 at 3:17pm
Who makes these decision? These people should be fired. These people already get smartphones and laptops, why add an Ipad into the mix? For apps? Do it on a fucking laptop or the already existing smartphone, it's not hard.
I could do this job so much better.
richeemxx
May 17, 2011 at 1:59pm
Corporations are still laying people off left and right but hey all their execs have shiny new iPad...no wonder our economy can't stabilize.
Holly Golightly
May 17, 2011 at 2:11pm
I totally agree with you! It is not fair for everyone else. Just so they know, that iPad2 will eventually get phased-out by the iPad3. And there goes more corporations spending on another $800 tablet that they have no clue why they would use it. I would have thought that corporations would rather use the BlackBerry Playbook. It is sad to see people and corporations alike being blinded like sheep... All just for a fad.
kixofmyg0t
May 17, 2011 at 1:57pm
Companies that buy iPads=sheep.
I seriously just read an article that basically stated that a whole mess of companies bought the iPad for no reason at all. Great, just effing great. You know what? They cant make a good case against android tablets then.
Hell most people don't even know that anything OTHER than iPad's exist. Everybody I meet asks me "Is that a iPad?" I reply "No, its a Xoom" Then they look at me confused like I just tried to explain math, cocking their head to the side like the RCA dog and then the ignorance spews from their mouths. "What's a XUUM?" Realizing what kind of brainwashed person I'm dealing with I reply; "It's like an iPad, but Android."
Then I have to explain to them what Android is...
roleki
May 17, 2011 at 7:59pm
While I'm not about to defend the deployment of shiny toys as a status symbol, I would hope that people would get over their Apple prejudice long enough to see the potential the iPad has for real-world use. My company has deployed iPads as an interface to our ERP system for use on the shop floor, to mixed but generally positive results.
Compared to the technologies they replace, they are helaciosly cheap, and are simple enough for even the most unapologetic technophobes to operate. I'm holding out hope that some company will produce a tablet with a better camera on it - better suited to barcode recognition - and if that company is Apple, then we'll continue to pay the idiot tax.
lunchbox73
May 17, 2011 at 2:23pm
I wish I had a dollar every time I had this conversation except replace "iPad" with "iPod" and "Xoom" with "Zune." Same thing.
kixofmyg0t
May 17, 2011 at 3:10pm
oh god yeah I often get that too. I have to greatly exaggerate how I pronounce "Xoom" because as soon as I say it people call it a "zune" ugggh.
Example; After explaining to someone what my Xoom is, and then having to explain what Android is cuz they are clueless about both(even though they're holding a HTC *insert w/e new fruity feminine name* phone* they usually ask me "oh can your ZUNE thingy get on the internet?!?!) Its at that point I have to pick up my brain off the floor because it literally spilled out of my ears and tried to run away from the madness.
People are soo fricken stupid and brainwashed by Apple it's not even funny.
Baer
May 17, 2011 at 12:15pm
I think if a company I owned stock in did this with no good reason I would sell their stock/
Baer
May 17, 2011 at 4:20pm
I would rather work for a company that uses its resorces wisely and makes a reasonable profit and will therefore be around a while but then I am not an Apple-Kiddie anymore.
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