Ignore tablets at your peril, analysts warn

Three separate studies reveal the 'bring your own device' momentum shows no sign of abating

Tablets should not be considered as laptop replacements but should form part of a tailored strategy depending on business roles within an organisation, the latest research from analyst house Ovum has claimed.

With Ovum’s latest figures predicting more than 235 million tablets in circulation by 2016 as firms try to appease employees’ desire for the latest technology, it warns that the machines are not productive with applications such as spreadsheets and word processing.

But it said that using line-of-business tablet applications specifically designed for particular roles within an organisation can provide real value.

Richard Absalom, analyst at Ovum, said: “For most companies it is a top-down movement. The CEO or another C-level executive gets hold of an iPad for their personal use and decides they want to be able to use it in the office.

“It is hard for the IT department to say no when it is the CEO making the demand, so this opens up the path to further adoption throughout the organisation. Providing a range of customised applications that make use of tablet functionalities for employees in specific job roles is a good way to gain maximum value from tablets. The growing use of in-house app stores indicates that more and more companies are going down this custom development route.”

Firms should also bear in mind the corporate mobility and security policies if allowing employees to bring their own devices to work, Ovum warned.

“Businesses need to ensure that any tablets being used by employees are as secure as possible, so that vital corporate data is protected. Tablet adoption should be considered as part of a wider enterprise mobility policy. If a company decides to adopt consumer-focused smartphones, it should have the tools in place to manage tablets easily too,” he said.

And if figures released by iPass are to be believed, the trend to ‘bring your own’ is only going to gain momentum. Figures revealed that more than half of all mobile workers (64 per cent) use a tablet, and that number is likely to rise to nearly 80 per cent within the next six months.

Unsurprisingly, topping the chart was Apple’s iPad 3, followed closely by Samsung, with Amazon, Windows 8 tablet and the BlackBerry Playbook all in the top five. In separate research, hosting specialist Star claimed the consumerisation of IT has had the single most negative impact on the role of the IT professional, with 32 per cent claiming it poses the biggest challenge in their roles.

In addition, 25 per cent of IT professionals questioned by Star said the biggest challenge they face is a lack of alignment between IT and the business it serves.

Paul Watson, interim chief executive of Star, said: “The IT department is undoubtedly busy keeping systems running, but over the years it has become another cost centre in the business and lost its status as the innovation department.

“IT professionals see consumerisation as a bad thing while everybody else thinks exactly the opposite, and that is causing further frustration for business leaders who are now wondering where they can go for the next innovation cycle.”