Everything You Have Been Told About Mobility is Wrong Myth #3

Tablets are companion devices only, not real business tools

Whether they’re purpose-built readers or multipurposemedia devices, tablets are here to stay. Along with smartphones, tablets have become part of our three-device personal strategy. This is because tablets are a nice hybrid of the smartphone and the PC. Their always-on connectivity and their larger touchscreens make them easy to use, with a seemingly endless supply of content and applications to keep users more aware, informed and agile.

Early on IT managers began connecting tablets to the enterprise networks at the request of executives excited to show off their cool new devices. But while the early use case was focused on tablets as a companion devices, exciting new use cases across the business began to develop.YeFeatures such as GPS, a camera, videoconferencing and touchscreen keyboards combined with mobile wireless access all add up to more productivity. Employees who use them for work agree. Almost three-quarters of those surveyed say the devices make them more productive.[1]

But business and IT leaders don’t share employees’ view of a tablet’s work value, according to research by Dell and Microsoft. Both groups see tablets as content consumption tools, not capable of replacing everyday PCs for content creation.[2]

IDG Research findings back that up: 58 percent of responding organizations buy tablets as companion devices for their PC users, while just 24 percent said they use tablets for content creation.[3]

Ironically, thinking of tablets as merely a companion device has complicated IT employees’ lives. It has led to a “three device” era, with mobile workers using multiple devices to access the applications and data they need for work. This means IT must manage several access privileges and support multiple platforms — compounding the headaches they once had.

Not surprisingly, such narrow views of tablets as genuine business tools have slowed IT’s adoption of them for workforce productivity. Currently, research shows that more business executives are using tablets for work purposes than salespeople, which indicates that sales teams are under-utilizing these powerful devices. The numbers should be reversed considering how tablets could help them close more sales and generate more revenue. They can do that, thanks to tablets’ extreme portability and features that enable salespeople to receive critical data and demo products in compelling ways.

IT has other reasons to be skeptical about embracing tablets: Until now, tablets have been designed for consumers, not the needs and rigors of business. Their battery life, dependability, serviceability and manageability fall far short of much more demanding enterprise requirements. Most of all, providing business-critical applications to mobile users has been too costly and time-consuming.

But all these challenges don’t apply to the new wave of business-class tablets released in the past two years. Although consumer tablets may not make sense for the enterprise, Dell’s Venue Pro series of tablets are radically changing the game.

For example, the Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet is designed, engineered and built for business applications and many use cases, unlike most consumer tablets. Retail, healthcare, manufacturing and other industries are using them to deliver critical information when and where it can make the most impact with customers, patients and clients.

This can boost on-the-job productivity and information exchange many times over throughout organizations using them. Employees can also collaborate more, thanks to tools like document sharing and video and web conferencing, so they can respond to issues and opportunities much faster.

The Dell Venue 11 Pro features a reinforced magnesium alloy frame and a large HD touchscreen. Its powerful Intel? Core? i3 processor can handle the most demanding enterprise applications, with up to 4GB of RAM and up to 128GB of solid-state storage.

Its long battery life can power it for up to 10 hours, with swappable batteries to extend that even more. The tablet can also become a fully featured ultrabook in seconds, just by attaching its keyboard. In a docking station, it has the power to run two large monitors for a full desktop experience.

Users of the Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet can easily access their full corporate domain, including Windows 8 or Windows 7 applications, via the keyboard, a stylus pen or touch. They can use Microsoft Lync while in the field for IM, voice or video calls.

With the full Microsoft Office suite and Dropbox integration, they can create, edit and share documents on the go. A full-size USB 3.0 port, mini-HDMI and Bluetooth? 4.0 provide ready connections for external devices. And a micro Secure Digital (microSD) memory card slot expands storage whenever needed.

IT staff will be glad to know that they can remotely manage the Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet, the same as they do PCs, using proven device management tools like SCCM or KACE. Plus, IT can ensure that data is protected with Dell Data Protection | Encryption and Dell SonicWALL solutions.

So with simplified management, access to applications that matter and the dependability to stand up to enterprise use cases, Dell tablets can help you mobilize more members of your workforce.

[1] IBID

[2] IBID

[3] IBID