[LINK] Tablet Computers Prescribed for Business

[Tom Worthington]

Gartner Inc. forecasts 54.8 million tablet computers will be sold in 
2011, due to the popularity of the Apple iPad. Gartner goes on to 
recommend at least "concierge" support for executive iPad users in 
organisations and widespread support by mid-2011:
<http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1462813>.

Helping executives with their iPads is a good idea for organisations. 
Staff are going to buy iPads and use them regardless of the official 
procurement policy of the organisation. Junior staff can be
disciplined for use of unauthorised equipment, but executives cannot. So
IT support should put in place a "harm minimisation" scheme. This will
reduce the risk of the iPads to the security of the organisation's IT
system.

iPad support could include executive information systems, similar to
those provided in the late 1990s. These provided essentially prepared
slide shows on computer to senior executives. A similar service for the
iPad would minimise the need for access to critical and sensitive
corporate systems.

Rather than a policy of widespread iPad support, I suggest organisations
should look at how mobile computing can be used. This should include
smart phones, tablet computers and netbooks. Unless there is a
compelling case, "Apps" which run on only one platform (such as the
iPad) should be avoided. Instead web based software, including elements
of HTML5, can be used to provide applications on a wide range of mobile
platforms as well as conventional desktop web browsers.

If tight vertical integration is required, organisations should look
beyond the iPad. As an example, U.S. Special Operations Command
(USSOCOM) is porting its "Tactical Situational Awareness Application
Suite" (TactSA) to Google Android: 
<http://blog.tomw.net.au/2010/10/us-military-use-google-android.html>.


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP HLM, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, School of Computer Science, The
Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/