How tablets help mobile enterprises

With the holidays just around the corner, many companies may be filling out their wish lists with tablets at the top. The promise of a more productive workforce is leading many to purchase the devices or support those owned by employees under a mobile device management program.

According to a new report from CIO Magazine, it's important for companies to take a closer look at tablets and identify the true benefits presented by the devices before the next procurement step. Knowing what the iPad and similar Android-powered devices can do for a mobile staff will allow the company to better target which areas of the organization should receive the devices.

Marc Wiest, project manager for group informatics at Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, was among the professionals interviewed by CIO. His company, which has a total employee population of 80,000, deployed tablets to its sales workforce. So far, Roche's mobility program accounts for 8,000 iPads with an expansion to 12,000 expected to be completed in the near future.

Roche's sales personnel are among those who credit mobile devices for freeing them to be more productive. The company's reps don't have a lot of time with doctors, and the iPads help the drive their point home much quicker than before, Wiest told CIO.

"Our sales reps are able to work more efficiently with iPads," Wiest said, according to the news provider. "They have 15 minutes with a doctor and they have to make the most it. The iPad boots up instantly, the apps are immediately accessible and the graphics are outstanding."

Still, the CIO report also highlighted several of the risks companies may encounter when deploying tablets. Issues with wireless expense management may be among the most serious, IDC chief research officer and executive vice president Crawford Del Prete told CIO.

That's why, when handing out tablets, companies must ensure the devices will actually help an employee get his or her work done.

A recent report from the Enterprise Device Alliance highlighted the fact that more companies are exploring the use of tablets. Of 277 IT administrators polled, 90 percent said at least a pilot program has been launched at their companies. And next year, the report found, respondents believe the usage rate will increase 250 percent.