VDC Research: Enterprise & Government Mobility Market Blog

iPad's Enterprise Dreams

Not to overstate the obvious, but with 3 million units shipped in its first three months, Apple's iPad has been an astounding success. With one simple, yet seductive, product Apple has succeeded where all others have failed: bringing relevance to the slate tablet category. Now while that last statement may not exactly be fair - the slate segment has found success in a variety of vertical markets supporting specialized applications - slate tablets have so far not lived up to their initial (think Bill Gates at COMDEX circa 2001) hype as the next mainstream PC form factor. And therein lies the rub. The iPad is NOT a PC. Leveraging the iPhone OS and its iconic multi-touch interface, the iPad obviously resembles a smarphone much more than a traditional PC and in doing so dispels the notion that devices with large displays should behave like PCs. Therefore what makes the device attractive is not in its displacement value (notebooks continue to ship in record numbers) but rather in the new applications and workflows it can introduce. Moreover, it has the potential to usher in a new era of mobile interfaces and social computing.

Although the iPad (and iPhone and iTouch) have been designed and deployed with the consumer in mind their reach into the enterprise is substantial. The iPad should benefit greatly from the ground work achieved by the iPhone (in terms of garnering enterprise support) and the transition should be much more seamless. In a recent survey conducted by VDC Research among in excess of 500 enterprises (survey conducted in June/July, 2010) the level of interest in and evaluation of the iPad for enterprise mobility applications was astounding.

Among the respondents, almost 15% have already decided to deploy iPads while an additional 29% have plans to evaluate the iPad for enterprise applications. For a product that was launched barely three months prior these are some strong numbers. Digging into the numbers a little deeper revealed a high correlation between industries with highly or inherently mobile workforces and interest in the iPad. More specifically, interest was strongest in industries such as healthcare, retail, construction and manufacturing.

However, as with any new form factor/computing experience, there a number of legitimate issues or concerns with the iPad - especially from the perspective of the enterprise consumer. Per VDC's research results, of the organizations that have evaluated the iPad almost 37% decide NOT to deploy the device based on its shortcomings. While most of these have been well documented - lack of multi-tasking, wireless security concerns, processing power, etc. - others have received less attention. One of the most glaring in VDC's perspective - especially for what one might consider mission critical field applications - is the viewability of the display in direct sunlight. In addition, the limited support of many enterprise applications for touch interfaces will be a barrier in many industry segments (although one that should be overcome fairly quickly).

Nevertheless, the outlook for the iPad and other slate tablets in the enterprise is expected to be strong and introduce innovative new workflows and mobile opportunities.

Keeping Pace with the Enterprise Mobility Solutions Market in 2010

By the end of 2010, the enterprise mobility market will have experienced the most change that we have seen in the past decade.  2009 budgets for enterprise mobility solutions – often one of the last segments of IT budgets to be crimped - were cut.  This exacerbated an already price and margin challenged mobile platform segment and has given managed services and hosted applications considerable traction.

Even before the latest recession, a number of core vertical markets and installation environments were slowing down, offering less margin, and forcing attrition in some supplier community segments.  We expect that this will continue and perhaps even accelerate in 2010.

Three years ago, application software became the first, and most important, solution element to be specified by users.  Today, wireless service is increasingly cited as the number one facet of an enterprise mobility solution to be specified; pushing traditional hardware platform, solution AND ISV providers aside marginally, or in some markets, materially.

These forces above, and others, are making channel architecture and partner decisions much more important. To help companies operating in, or targeting the enterprise mobility market analyze and compare their options - VDC is once again, planning to publish our Enterprise Mobility Solutions Service.  This market research will address the broad range of technology developments and consumer trends which we see unfolding in the enterprise mobility solutions market in 2010 and beyond.

We encourage you to contact us to learn more about this research, which is currently in our founding sponsorship period and provides early subscribers some significant benefits.