The Fad that is the ‘Pad’
I seem to recall several years ago, even up to last year, there were still people in the IT world who were saying the iPad or similar tablet technologies were just a ‘fad’ and would only be a consumer product. Or one of my favorites “we’re just not going to allow them in our organization”. Boy they couldn’t have been more wrong with those statements. I cannot recall a meeting with clients or vendors in the past 4 months were a tablet technology was not present. Ubiquitous …well maybe not yet but were headed in that direction. It may have started with your C level’s, it may have been that pesky field sales person, but it’s here and you know you need to start asking those critical questions.
One of your users is going to show up at your office after the holidays with a tablet. Whether your users are Xooming, Nooking or flying off into the Galaxy you are going to need a plan if you haven’t already started AND you’ll need to keep updating that plan with the introduction of even more capabilities on these tablet devices. The addition of video, file access, email and even voice (in the future) will force IT organizations to consider what impact these will have on their security and practices in general. Do you know how to configure your network to allow secured access? Are you comfortable with the manufactures supplied security software? How will you allow remote access? File access? Will you allow IM? So many questions and where to find the answers? The PEI team has been supporting organizations for decades including the latest technologies fad or otherwise. A critical path to successful integration of these devices is relying on someone with the knowledge and experience to ensure you are asking not only the simple questions but the really hard and sometimes scariest ones as well.
Without a doubt IT organizations will need to deal with the issues surrounding tablet technologies and you should do it before the New Year. Because someone is going to walk through those doors with a brand new shiny device that may do more harm than good.
To find out how PEI can help you please contact us https://pei.com/contact-us/
-Jennifer Smith, PEI
