Report: iPad infiltrating enterprise IT
By now, we all know that the iPad has been a runaway success story, but it seems the iPad is also making waves in the business world, too. According to the Apple Blog, Ted Schadler, from Forrester, has written a report on the impact of the iPad (primarily on the enterprise market, since January 2010). Speaking with more than 200 companies, Schadler's report points out three major ways that the iPad is changing IT in the enterprise.
Firstly, the iPad is reportedly displacing the traditional laptop, especially in the case of those who would use their laptop primarily for email and other types of Web-based communication, though, at this stage, only in scenarios where it is more appropriate.
Secondly, the iPad is replacing paper. Wherever people would usually carry around stacks of paper or files, particularly in medical and pharmaceutical industries, the iPad is now the preferred choice. Clearly, the iPad has more functionality than a wad of paper, and it's a lot easier to carry around, too.
Finally, Schadler says that the iPad is allowing companies to do things more efficiently by providing immediate connection to further resources and data. Schadler uses the example of a salesman being able to customize an order for a customer on the spot by using the iPad.
However, Schadler says there are still some pretty significant hurdles for the iPad to jump through. For one, the iPad has minimal support for Microsoft Office, and the Redmond based company doesn't have any official solutions in the near future to rectify this. This, in part, limits where you can and can't use an iPad in a Microsoft Office dominated enterprise world.
The Apple Blog has further details on Schadler's report here, or if you're a Forrester subscriber, you can read the full story here.
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By now, we all know that the iPad has been a runaway success story, but it seems the iPad is also making waves in the business world, too....
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I would really love to be able to manage a few of my servers using my iPad. I wish apple would release an iOS version of Server Admin tools. Right now, I'm limited to VNC.
October 28 2010 at 5:31 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply>>>the iPad is allowing companies to do things more efficiently
October 28 2010 at 4:33 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyOops! Here's the link...
http://ipadcto.com/2010/07/12/ipad-agility-creates-surprising-increase-in-productivity-over-iphone-and-laptop/
Businesses typically adopt technologies that improve operational efficiency and this is what I've noticed with iPad. By tracking my time and business uses of iPad, iPhone, and laptop, I was able to pinpoint specific areas where iPad increased my personal productivity.
Of course, mileage may vary depending on roles, activities, and security constraints, but overall, I think business people are recognizing mobile devices with additional content consumption and production agility such as iPad, are likely to provide significant productivity gains for certain use cases.
One of the biggest and most powerful technologies in the enterprise is Java/J2EE, which most enterprise business applications are written for. Its adoption in the enterprise means applications can be run from any platform on most internet browsers. Unfortunately, the lack of Java JRE support by the iPads tremendously limits its adoption in this arena. I'm sure if Apple acknowledged this and allowed iPads to run Java, the iPad would become a ubiquitous enterprise tool and Apple's penetration into this market would explode exponentially.
October 28 2010 at 2:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI don't think the lack of JRE support is hindering the iPad in any way. In fact there are very few desktop Java apps.
However, most of enterprise backends are built on top of JEE. Most corresponding front ends run in your browser just fine thanks to html, css and javascript, thus not requiring local JVMs to be installed. Never have seen such front ends loading applets.
I'm seeing more and more turn up especially in a lot of meetings I have with management type... sold quite a few too based on people seeing me use mine!
Email, web and the combination of DocsToGo/Dropbox are some of the top selling points. A PDF library of documentation on the go is hugely useful too.
Approx 40k worth of iPads: http://bit.ly/aGanRf
An iPad for Construction?
At Vela Systems (http://www.velasystems.com), our customers are some of the largest builders in the world. They've been waiting a long time for a device like the iPad - inexpensive, powerful, portable that they can put in the hands of all their field personnel - which is why we've been so excited about it since it became available http://bit.ly/abXTAC.
Not only are they using iPads to replace paper, they're fundamentally changing the way they work on the jobsite. At the "point-of-construction" they can collect and share quality information, perform detailed inspections, and create tasks or issues -- all without ever having to walk back to their desks.
Want to learn more? Talk to or follow us here http://twitter.com/velasystems
With Citrix environments, we are going to see fewer and fewer desktop PCs on a lot of enterprise users' desks.
Citrix runs on the iPad as well.
Yep. Such remote access apps will likely be used in hospitals as well. No more charting on paper and then typing into a patients record. Just input it straight in. This could be a lifesaver, literally. Systems could be set up so if you input a drug that could conflict with current meds, you are alerted. The system could also compute safe ranges of dosage based on current meds, conditions, weight etc. No more worries about misreading handwriting. Alerts for timing with confirmations requiring some kind of pin number so you know that yes Mr Smith got his meds, when and who did it.
All based on a central database with ipads or whatever acting as the viewer.
Documents To Go works fine on the iPad, and most corporate environments should be somewhat familiar with it since it was all there was on Palm for years. I do see a lot of CEO's that are using them at the companies I work with.
October 28 2010 at 1:22 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHot Apps on TUAW
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