iPhone Enterprise Point Solutions and the Evolution to iPad
by Bill French on 03/03/10 at 5:00 am
Bill French is an information architect specializing in Internet applications. He is also the co-founder of MyST Technology Partners and Senior Editor for iPhoneCTO.
If you’re an enterprise IT leader, you’re likely to categorize the Apple iPad in one of two ways; as a new device that needs to be assessed like any other device for possible enterprise use, or as an extension of an existing platform already supported by your organization.
Analysts are weighing in on iPad in the enterprise and they seem pretty much split in their decision. Some say iPad is going to be a real shaker in business; others suggest it will have no impact. To be clear, I’m biased. In case you didn’t already know from my history of articles about iPhone, I really like using Apple products because they help me increase my productivity and they create a more profitable work day. But setting that aside, analysts that see iPad as purely a consumer device. They are probably missing a few influential elements that are difficult to quantify.
The combination of iPad’s low price coupled with Apple’s love mark, will emerge as a key and influential vote that enterprise employees bring to the table. Indeed, iPad will invade the enterprise slowly and methodically through the consumer door – the same way iPhone made its way into 20% of the enterprises so far. For some organizations, they will see iPad’s extension of the iPhone as another attractor worthy of a deeper look because iPhone OS now represents two mobile form-factors, a huge benefit when you need to align limited development resources and amortize them.
Enterprise employees are among the most innovative workers in the world. They will find uses for iPad that will trump long-standing and outdated modes of content distribution and communication. As I’ve said before, iPad is ideal for anyone that needs to make a point. Enterprises make progress when ideas and conversations are accelerated and opportunities for understanding are streamlined. iPad has the technical chops to make this happen and high net-worth mobile professionals are precisely in the cross-hairs of Apple’s target demographic for this product.
Some analysts have suggested that notebooks will be left at home and iPad will find a secure spot in every briefcase. I’m not
Ted Schadler, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc., said “Make no mistake, this is an attractive business tool, laptops will be left at home.”While iPad will find a spot in many corporate briefcases, there are some reasons we may not want to get so giddy about iPad. A big one is Flash support – it’s not there yet and even with the recent Adobe iPhone OS Flash Packager, comprehensive support may be a ways off. Another issue is battery life – 10 hours sounds great but that’s without using Bluetooth (for a keyboard) or Wifi for connectivity. Realistically, this might be a 2.5 hour battery when compared to notebooks on a level playing field.
As the first iPads begin to show up in enterprise settings, new benefactors will quickly emerge. Software products designed for iPhone enterprise use and retooled to support iPad’s 9.7” display, will see sharp rises in revenues and seats deployed. While iWork apps at $10 each is enticing, iPhone apps that already support Microsoft Office document formats will become gating factors for iPad adoption in the enterprise. We can expect to see ReaddleDocs 
, QuickOffice , and Documents To Go to have highly optimized versions of their iPhone apps ready for iPad the day it ships.
Another segment that will see a ground swell of interest is cloud computing and storage services. With Apple’s new chip, a little weak in terms of CPU horsepower, there might be demand for distributed CPU services. iPad storage is also limited [today] to 64 GBs so storage services could come in pretty handy for enterprises.
There’s little doubt – iPad will emerge quickly in enterprises and a significant number of iPhone apps that have already proven their worth, will quickly find increased demand from mobile professionals who believe iPad will be the right fit in their own business settings.
What surprises me most is the lack of vision from pundits and analysts. Most are looking at iPad assuming it’s just another mobile device in a new form factor. They seem to be missing the opportunities to change the game in narrow business cases and point solutions where a lightweight tablet with superior web services opportunities makes sense.
Imagine how a flooring manufacturer might enhance the one-on-one sales and buying experience with iPad. Consider how much more enjoyable buying a couch could be when the salesperson greets you at the door of a large furniture warehouse with an iPad that can instantly call up 30 couches without requiring a lot of wandering from display to display. You simply tap the couches you like and a map shows the salesperson the most efficient route to the displays.
iPad is capable of creating vibrant experiences with panache; a key success factor for business people that want to make a point.
