INFOGRAPHIC: iPad in Business
INFOGRAPHIC: iPad in Business
Everyone knows that iPads are cool, fun to use, and just about the hippest thing you can tote around with you at the moment. But iPad has a serious side too and is quickly becoming a highly sought after business tool; 80 percent of Fortune 100 companies are currently deploying or testing iPad for business. It’s why we couldn’t be prouder to announce Zendesk for iPad, the first full-featured customer service application built especially for iPad, allowing you to keep in even closer touch with customers, no matter the location. To learn more how about you can integrate mobile tools into your customer support platform, check out our white paper on multi-channel support.
Click to see original: http://www.zendesk.com/blog/more-than-just-a-pretty-interface-ipad-means-business/
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Future Application Direction
Future Application Direction?
It was only last year that we sat around a table in what was then the hub of ICT in ******** , ******** and discussed the possibility of a tablet based solution to a (service) data collection need.
You will recall that you own Staff wanted to explore the use of tablets, but that you were eventually told that it was 'impractical and possibly flawed' and pointed in the direction of Panasonic 'Toughbooks'. That was a rather expensive option (but sheepishly 'corporate' - who can argue with ‘Windows XP and ’tough’?)).
I did, and I can.
In comparison to the alternative, tablets are now being accepted in many forward thinking organisations. Indeed, their practicality is being embraced like no other technology in the recent past.
The practicalities, the potential for savings, the flexibility and the security offered by tablets by far outweighs the reasoning to doubt the platform.
If ********** (public service) wants to see solutions in the light of current technology options, rather than trying to accommodate outmoded and outdated thinking, and unfounded fear, uncertainty and doubt, I urge you to at least take a look. The, often considered, sticking with what we have can be the LEAST COST EFFECTIVE WAY FORWARD.
There are many options and sensible arguments.
Cutting to the chase, give me the opportunity to at least have a dialogue with key stakeholders. This is one ICT F.U.D. that for once stands for "Future Application Direction"
The invitation is there.
Regards
John Rudkin
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tablets/why-tablets-matter-for-enterprise-users/428?tag=nl.e101
Tablets in the Enterprise
Why tablets matter for enterprise users
By Patrick Gray
November 29, 2011, 11:44 AM PST
Takeaway: Patrick Gray details the reasons why tablets are relevant and states that ignoring tablet technology is inexcusable.
In my TechRepublic IT Leadership column I recently wrote about technical solutions looking for a problem. In some of the responses to my tablet-related TechRepublic articles readers have wondered aloud whether tablets are in the same vein: a technical solution to a non-existent problem.
This is an interesting and legitimate question, and while tablet hardware is fairly inexpensive, a large-scale deployment and the associated support and maintenance costs are not insignificant. Accounting for the obvious bias of a writer who writes weekly columns about the wonders of tablets, I’ll offer an answer of “yes” to the question of whether tablets are relevant. Here’s why.
Fast and light
Two of the most innovative features of the current crop of tablets are conceptually the most mundane: fast boot times and exceptional portability. In an age when full-blown laptop computers can boot in 12 seconds or less and weigh around 3 lbs, an instantly-accessible device that shaves 12 ounces seems less than exciting, and one wonders how much these seeming trivialities matter. Instant accessibility and portability make one far more likely to use the device for rapid access to “glanceable” information.
The BlackBerry and other smartphones revolutionized the mundane old application of email by making it universally available and accessible, rather than booting up a larger device and the associated applications. I believe tablets will perform a similar feat for a larger pool of information and applications that might range from rapidly accessible and instantly updated dashboard-style management reports, to knowledge sharing and collaboration tools that have suffered by being chained to laptops.
Collaboration 2.0
Since the dawn of computing we’ve seen technologies that promised to accelerate and enable that corporate stalwart: the meeting. While tools like SharePoint have brought some of this vision to life, I’ve always found laptops to hinder collaborative work, since they create an instant barrier to personal interaction the moment the screen is raised. In most companies, the detailed creative work takes place in person, over a whiteboard or via a conference call, and the technical tools are updated after the fact. Tablets, on the other hand, can be passed around, poked, and prodded; they facilitate human interaction rather than hinder it, and capture ideas in real time. While technology will never replace skills like meeting management and delegation, tablets can finally provide what every good technology should: an accelerant to an already successful human process.
Laptop replacement
While the TechRepublic community may balk at replacing a “loaded” desktop or laptop with a low-end tablet computer, the majority of workers in most companies use little beyond email, web browsing, and perhaps a handful of enterprise applications. As these workers migrate toward web-based front ends and the major players expand their tablet offerings, issuing and maintaining pools of traditional laptops makes less sense. With fewer moving parts and near-ubiquitous commercial availability, you could almost “outsource” your hardware maintenance to the local big-box electronics store, allowing remote employees to swap a defective unit that’s then remotely provisioned just like a BlackBerry or other smartphone. I’m very excited that the lines between consumer and enterprise hardware, at least at the end user level, are blurring. Tracking, repairing, and managing a huge pool of computers seems more of a distraction than a valuable function for the modern IT shop, and tablets move us just a bit further away from this function.
Gauge tablets’ relevance to your organization
Speculation is certainly a low-risk art, and I completely understand IT leaders regarding any new technology with a dose of healthy skepticism. Most CIOs are regularly faced with all manner of challenges, and the IT press spouting off about the wonders of tablets may seem like yet another burden rather than helpful commentary.
That said, while it’s too early for most organizations to rush headlong into a widespread tablet deployment, there’s little excuse not to be conducting at least an informal test in this area and gauging the relevance to your organization. Get a bit creative here, and perhaps allow a couple of junior developers to experiment with connecting their personal tablets to corporate systems, and presenting their findings to IT leadership as a low-cost way to dip your toe into the tablet waters. While a wait and see attitude is appropriate at this point, simply ignoring tablet technology is inexcusable.
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Think MOBILE WEB
Think MOBILE WEB
Why mobile? Take a look at this short video.
Having access to a way of reaching mobile customers is increasingly becoming the best way to do business.
You can reach out to that mobile movement too, and its easy:
1) Smartphones are increasingly the norm - try to find smart consumers without them!
2) Always on, always connected and always with us (well, nearly always)
3) Internet browsing has increased to around 80% of users. As prices drop, more join.
4) Social networking and trust circles are growing exponentially. People share good news, especially about great deals.
5) Many now read and watch news on smartphones
6) We are multitasking - using mobile phones while eating, watching TV, doing other things
7) UK Mobile phone ownership stands at approx (mobi) 81,000,000, which is 1.8+ per person
8) Our trends generally tend to follow the USA’s (the information from Pew above in US centric)
9) Other devices can use mobile phones to connect, such as tablet (iPad) users
10) Some companies allow tethering for free…. so imagine the addition millions of users
11) Mobile phones can provide localised services…..a customer close by, not just a remote customer
12) With the announcement of the $99 iPhone4, the market could be about to explode.
So what are you waiting for - get mobile, get online and get you businesses out there!
http://www.pye-technologies.co.uk/LocalMobileSocialWebsites/
Local + Mobile +Social - 3 Business Websites
http://www.discount-deal-of-the-day.com/pages/display