Business Move Toward Accepting Tablets, But Hurdles Remain

Tablets are moving into business--whether corporations are ready or not.

Consumers so far have led the surging use of tablets, and they increasingly want to use the personal devices for work. In addition, hardware makers are planning a new wave of tablets designed for business purposes.

However, the growth of tablets is creating problems for businesses, which have to secure the devices, determine how much access to give their employees and bolster their networks without facing sharply higher IT support costs.

"A lot of companies used to say 'No, no, no, not approved, not supported, not authorized, not in my environment,'" said Jere Brown, chief executive of the Americas at Dimension Data PLC, which helps companies build and manage their networks. "But it's so pervasive now, you can't say no."

Demand for mobile devices like tablets has soared since Apple Inc. (AAPL) released its iPad in April. Last week, Apple said more than 65% of the Fortune 100 companies have deployed or are piloting the iPad.

Meanwhile, other companies are launching tablets tailored for business use. Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) last week unveiled its Slate 500 tablet, and products from Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) are expected early next year. Also, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (SSNHY, 005930.SE) and Avaya Inc. soon will release tablets.

Gartner projected that world-wide media tablet sales will soar to 54.8 million units in 2011 from an expected 19.5 million this year.

But the prevalence of tablets in the workplace presents some problems. Perhaps most importantly, companies have to determine what level of network access to give their employees--everything, just their email or something in between.

"Applications allowing people to connect to their desktop [from a tablet] is a security person's worst nightmare," said Ahmed Datoo, vice president of marketing for Zenprise Inc., a company that provides software to help companies manage and apply security.

Many companies have emerged to try to solve these problems, ranging from mobile-device managers like Zenprise and BoxTone Inc. to virtualization-software companies like VMware Inc. (VMW) and Citrix Systems Inc. (CTXS), which has a virtual-desktop app for the iPad known as the Receiver.

Desktop virtualization allows users to access their data without saving any of the information on the devices, preventing the information from being compromised if the device is lost.

"No data resides on the iPad itself," said Mick Hollison, Citrix vice president of marketing. "Unless someone can figure out the user's [security passwords], they can't access it."

And the companies making tablets geared toward businesses are hoping their products will address some of the issues.

Research in Motion, which plans to release its PlayBook next year, is counting on users' familiarity with the BlackBerry platform and security to drive demand.

"Companies don't want to put in new security," said Jeff McDowell, RIM senior vice president of platform and business product marketing. "They want to use the security they trust in the BlackBerry today, and they want to use that in a tablet environment."

And Cisco, which will release its Cius tablet in the first quarter, said its product is designed to address businesses' needs by including security for hardware, software and whatever's loaded to the device and giving IT departments more control over the devices.

"There's always a give and take between the user and administrator on how much control each has," said Tom Pourro, Cisco director of IP communications. "Cius gives the ability to control everything or control nothing," as well as varying control levels in between.

Meanwhile, Carol Hess-Nickels, H-P director of marketing for worldwide business notebooks, said any security available for notebook PCs is available for the Slate 500, including VPN and encryption. And Ray Vinson, senior manager of product planning at Samsung Telecommunications America, said Samsung provides a base level of security around exchange policies and can help users implement stronger security if needed.

With the increase in tablets and new technology to help secure them, businesses will have to find a way to navigate them and decide what works best for them.

"The rules are changing as we go forward," said Giovanni Forte, president and chief executive of Trellia Networks Inc., a Canadian company that helps companies manage their mobile devices. "Nobody has 100% of the answer...for this blending of consumerism and business."

-By Shara Tibken, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2189; shara.tibken@dowjones.com

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