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iPad and Beyond: The Media Tablet in
Business
Published: 15 March 2011
Analyst(s): David A. Willis
Media tablets present a variety of new opportunities for business, while
supplementing traditional uses of notebooks and smartphones. Tablets
present a new design point for applications, and require a new set of
policies, technologies and skills.
Analysis
This special report highlights Gartner's research and advice to customers on best practices for
business uses of the media tablet. Running throughout 2011 with periodic updates, it describes why
media tablets matter to business and government, how to deploy them, and how to deliver
applications to them. The phenomenon will change the future of computing in business. Read ahead
to get up to speed on what is happening in a very fast-moving area, and to get insight on what your
next move should be.
Media tablets seem to be everywhere. The iPad brought to life a new model of computing centered
around Web browsing, applications and media consumption, which is a smash success. It makes
computing practical in many new locations where a laptop or a smartphone just wouldn't cut it. The
convenient-to-use, instant-on, responsive media tablet is not the tablet PC experience we first saw:
It is not merely a touchscreen or pen interface bolted onto the PC. It has spawned a huge variety of
applications designed for the unique environment. The media tablet is proving to be something new,
but the device itself is only part of the story. The packaging of hardware and software that Apple
created with the iPad, along with the ecosystem of applications and media that surrounded it, has
made the real difference.
The iPad, and an anticipated larger wave of media tablets, has captured the imagination of business
leaders. Some companies have issued them to business and IT leaders in the spirit of exploration.
Others see areas in which they can use media tablets to bring computing into settings that were not
practical or were too cumbersome to use traditional approaches. For the consumer, the iPad
brought a casual but rich experience onto the living room couch, or the train, or while waiting in line
at the bank. In turn, IT organizations are finding new places where tablets can deliver information
and media in ways that were not practical, too cumbersome or just too unwieldy. Tablets remove
the burden of computing and let the user merely act — and get useful work done.
2. The devices may be beautiful to hold and use, but there are critical aspects of Apple's approach
that are more important than the device itself, such as the supporting ecosystem of applications
and media content, and the developer ecosystem behind it, and the consistent design principles
that create a compelling experience for the user.
Although they have suddenly appeared in many visible locations, the absolute numbers of media
tablets are relatively low. Media tablet shipments are expected to be approximately 69 million in
2011, which is only a small fraction of the total number of application-capable mobile devices, such
as smartphones. Yet the impact in the minds of the public is much greater than the numbers alone
describe, and the design impacts on other forms of computing will be great. IT leaders themselves
are among the most visible users of media tablets. In large sessions at Gartner conferences in 2010,
we estimate that more than one-quarter of attendees were carrying iPads.
CIOs are determined not to make the same mistakes they made with smartphones, which were
often written off early as expensive and frivolous toys, or executive status symbols — which then
left room for more inventive leaders who saw the competitive advantage that mobile applications
would bring. They are also more willing to see that they don't need to supply and manage every
device that employees use at work: Consumerization is here to stay, and moving very fast. If you
can think of an application for tablets, your competition may well be thinking in the same way —
and acting on it. As we noted in "CEO Advisory: Seize the iPad Opportunity Now," it is time to
explore the use of media tablets in business.
Infrastructure support teams, which have always been the most resistant to new devices, are also
embracing the trend faster than any other major computing shift we have seen. They anticipate
broad adoption in their companies. At Gartner's December 2010 Infrastructure and Operations
Conference, 85% of the audience stated they expect to support media tablets, and 48% were
already supporting them within six months of the iPad's launch (see "Managing the Next Generation
of Client Computing").
Companies that had already recognized the flood of consumer devices coming into business, and
had figured out a way to leverage it rather than fight it, have been more prepared to embrace media
tablets. Those who embraced managed diversity (see "Use Managed Diversity to Support Endpoint
Devices," and figured out how to manage and secure iPhones, were developing strategies to
manage and keep iPads secure — not after months of study, but within weeks of the iPad's launch.
Media Tablets Are Not Better Laptops
As originally noted in "iPads: Not Notebook Replacements, but Still Useful for Business," media
tablets provide a different user experience than laptops. Rather than a full replacement for
conventional PCs, they are a convenient supplement. By activating instantly, they allow a user to
get right to what he or she needs immediately, without long and frustrating startup times. With few
mechanical parts, media tablets have exceptional battery life. The best are responsive, tactile and
inviting. In a common mobile-worker scenario, employees may travel with a media tablet during the
day, but then return to their laptops in the after hours for heads-down data entry or content
creation.
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3. The design principles used in media tablets have already impacted mobile design in a big way, and
over the next couple of years, the design of notebooks and desktops will change at the device level,
with technologies such as multitouch and motion sensing, and at the application distribution level,
with users subscribing to applications within an ecosystem via a portal.
This working model has distinct advantages. In mid-conversation with a client, a sales agent can
open up a media tablet as naturally as opening up a book, and then casually walk through
documents and videos — avoiding the awkward, finger-drumming delays of booting a laptop and
launching applications. Many sales leaders are clamoring to adopt them in their workforce. And it
won't stop there: Next will come customer relationship management systems, order entry and sales
configuration applications. For sales managers, media tablets will be a natural platform for business
analytics and performance dashboards.
In other settings, the intimacy of using a media tablet supports more personal interactions. Doctors,
nurses and medical technicians find they can sit down with a patient and help a patient understand
a diagnoses, walk through a medical procedure and describe a therapy with them. Retail clerks can
use tablets to display customized clothing for a customer. Conference attendees can take surveys
with no training required (for one such example, see "Medtronic: Making better decisions faster").
Business processes where people need information while they are walking or sitting down are good
candidates for media tablet applications. Modest form-based data entry systems are easy to create.
Extensive data entry is not advised, at least not without external keyboards, at which point the
dividing line between the smallest notebook computer and the media tablet becomes very fine — a
subject which we will attack in an update to this special report later in 2011.
Media Tablets Are Not Better Smartphones
Just as media tablets don't replace PCs, they also will not replace mobile phones as voice devices,
even in the smaller form factors, such as those with 7-inch displays. As noted in "Media Tablets as
Communicators Are Not Quite a Category Killer," there will be opportunities to use media tablets for
communication and collaboration applications in a shared office setting, such as a conference room
or a fixed desk location (especially for video). Here they do not compete in the same space as the
general-purpose media tablet, such as the iPad (although a future general-purpose device could
make these devices unnecessary). They may play a part in a broader integrated unified
communications (UC) strategy. We've looked at two early versions, from Cisco and Avaya (see
"Cisco's Cius Is Targeted at Moving Users Beyond Voice to Video and Collaboration" and "Avaya: A
New User Experience, and an Android Conferencing Device to Run It"). We believe these are early
examples of purpose-built tablets targeted at special uses for business.
But although media tablets are not generally replacements for notebooks or for smartphones, they
still have enormous potential in the workplace. They can be a convenient replacement for tasks
where a notebook seemed to be the only option (e.g., reading and otherwise consuming data). They
can also serve as data entry devices for short tasks where a smartphone is too small, such as for
simple forms entry. Another interesting set of uses centers around tablets permanently mounted in a
physical location, such as a kiosk, vehicle or elevator.
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4. Beyond the iPad
Apple may have redefined what a computing tablet is, but others are also joining in. For Apple's
often well-capitalized competitors, this will be a high-stakes battle. Not only will Google compete
via Android (working with many hardware manufacturers), but so will Research In Motion (RIM) with
QNX, and HP with WebOS. While Microsoft and Nokia have each been holding their cards close to
their chests as of this writing, they will surely enter the game during 2011. And all the while, Apple is
not standing still (see "RIM Adopts QNX Platform Strategy, Announces Tablet," "A Perspective on
Android 2.2 for the Enterprise" and "iPad 2 Will Stay on Top of the Tablet Market by Delivering a
Richer Experience").
Fundamentally, the market battle will not hinge on features and specifications, on the fit and finish
of a given device, or even on a device at all: The platform that will prevail will have a strong
supporting ecosystem of developers producing a wide range of applications. And in this area, Apple
is far ahead of any competition. Not only does it have a first-mover advantage in the device itself,
but it has built a curated application distribution mechanism in the App Store that is notable both for
how users hold it in high regard and how detractors see it as a limitation. In the end, Apple's lead
will be very difficult to beat.
Managing and Securing Media Tablets
Done properly, and with a new strategy, managing media tablets need not create a huge burden or
put the organization at risk.
For now, Apple is at the center of the media tablet discussion. The fact that it is already in demand
by end users, has a curated application experience that mitigates business risk and shares an
approach with other iOS devices, especially the iPhone, makes it a good and safe choice for
businesses.
The conventional wisdom about Apple's position in the enterprise isn't always true: You can
manage iPads and iPhones securely to a level that is sufficient for most companies. A business can
deliver its own applications and avoid most of the tight restrictions of Apple's consumer App Store.
And at this point, Apple devices are priced competitively. Apple merely has a strategy for enterprise
support that is a different approach from what the traditional IT suppliers offer. For device
management and security, Apple provides capabilities for third parties to provide full mobile device
management and security, as explained in "Apple Delivers Major Upgrade to Enterprise Capabilities
in iOS 4."
For a more general view of security, see "Four Architectural Approaches to Limit Business Risk on
Consumer Smartphones and Tablets" and "How to Support Corporate E-Mail and Other
Applications on Personal Devices," as well as "How to Secure the Corporate Data on Your iPad or
iPhone."
Application licensing is another consideration that organizations must understand. Devices like
iPads owned by users and used off-premises are licensed differently, and may be less expensive to
license than iPads owned by the organization (see "Ensure Apple iPads Are Licensed Correctly to
Use Microsoft Products to Avoid Problems").
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5. Longer term, a general device management strategy that combines both traditional and mobile
computing may prevail (see "Managing Client Computing Through 2015" and "Managing the Next
Generation of Client Computing").
Mobile Policy Implications
The unstoppable trend of consumerization is forcing leaders to rethink their mobile policies and
provide more choices for users, even going as far as opening up to any device the user may want to
choose. The tradeoffs between a tightly controlled and more-open approach are examined in "New
Approaches to Managing Mobile Users and Smartphones."
The variety of platforms is creating a very active market for mobile device management, as noted in
"Mobile Device Management 2010: A Crowd of Vendors Pursue Consumer Devices in the
Enterprise."
Application Delivery
Organizations that actively embrace mobile applications will have some tough choices to make. Is it
better to build a highly functional thick-client application for a single platform, or is it better to use
Web technologies, or is it better to use cross-compilation technologies and tools that support more
vendors, even with fewer features? We examine these tradeoffs and rank the vendors in "Magic
Quadrant for Mobile Enterprise Application Platforms."
The new style of application delivery found in Apple's App Store, which now spans not only mobile
devices, but conventional desktops and notebooks, will also change application delivery, software
distribution and employee portals.
Developing Applications
To gain the most competitive advantage, many organizations will find that merely using off-the-shelf
applications will not be enough, and will decide to pursue custom applications. But the world of
media tablet and smartphone development is very different from the world of conventional static
applications, so new tools and disciplines are in order.
For application developers, media tablets present a new design point, which sits between a
pocketable smartphone with a small screen and limited input options versus a luggable notebook
PC with a large screen and traditional mouse/keyboard input. More importantly, it is one that
emphasizes softer aspects that technologists tend to ignore: empathy, feel and even emotion. New
design factors are discussed in "From iPads to Portals: A World of Doors and Windows." A broader
analysis of the Apple approach to design that can be applied to many aspects of architecture and
development is described in our work on design thinking and empathetic design (see "Gain a
Foundation in Design Thinking to Apply Gartner's Hybrid Thinking Research").
Because of the complexities and hazards of developing applications for specific platforms,
widespread availability of mobile broadband and gradual improvements in HTML5, we anticipate
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6. many organizations will elect to create more thin-client applications as their principal strategy (see
"Mobile Architectures, 2009 Through 2012: A Trend Toward Thin").
HTML5 will not be the answer to all problems, as noted in "HTML5 and the Future of Adobe Flash."
When it is necessary to deliver applications to two or more target platforms, especially when
advanced device features and offline capabilities are needed, cross-platform tools will play a more
important role, as described in "Cross-Platform Mobile Application Development Tools: Interest and
Capability Expected to Grow." An overview of the available tools for smartphones (and, by
extension, some media tablets) is available in "Choosing Development Tools for Smartphone App
Store Applications."
You'll find more on developing applications for the mobile environment, especially for smartphones,
in "ATV: Guide for Mobile Application Development, Sourcing and Support."
By getting computing out of the way of what the user wants to do, media tablets prove that
automation doesn't have to be a tortuous and difficult experience for the user, requiring extensive
training for poorly designed and nonintuitive environments. It doesn't have to be complex. In future
updates during 2011, we will go even deeper into the areas of business applications for media
tablets, as well as device management, application delivery strategies and application development.
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