How tablets are automating everyday workloads
By Naresh Shanker, Vice President & CIO, HP webOS Global Business Unit, Personal Systems Group
The average “wired” executive totes a cumbersome handful of devices and electronics to most meetings. But that look is quickly fading as the tablet takes hold in the workplace – lightening the load, replacing ordinary manual processes, and, along the way, energizing mobile productivity.
Tablets are just another way that consumers are embracing technology and connecting all their worlds. You don’t have to look far to see the impact already in various industries:
- Medical charts are created, updated, and accessed through tablets.
- Freight drivers can use durable versions to check maps, chart hours, and photograph damaged deliveries.
- Retailers can scan inventory and process transactions instantly.
- Even airline pilots are testing tablets to replace their heavy stacks of manuals and maps that eat up costly fuel dollars to transport.
Business functions that once seemed invincible can now be automated, as Wi-fi enabled touch-screen tablets (like the new HP TouchPad) increasingly become available. Time is instead spent on strategy and aligning business units to compete and collaborate more effectively. Creativity and speed are prioritized. Workers become highly mobile, creating an always on model for the Instant-On Enterprise.
Tablets are one more reason that the very desk of the average worker is shrinking in relevance. Is your enterprise ready? Think about the following questions:
1. How will this technology be used to save time?
It’s not enough to possess the latest and greatest device; automation and efficiency experts can assist in this process.
2. What’s the risk?
Just as smartphones carry a risk of exposing enterprise IP, email, and documents, risk avoidance and industry regulations must be considered for tablets, too.
3. Are there any cultural barriers?
Identify what obstacles must be overcome to help users adopt quickly, from training to managerial support.
4. Will it save money?
It’s not just about the cost of the device; consider energy costs, software, support, and if tablets provide a new opportunity to rationalize apps. Don’t forget to factor in the value of unexpected innovation and efficiency.
Business value should be a core component of any IT decision. New technology will continue to rewrite conventional business processes. The longer an organization waits is the difference between operating at a pencil pace vs. a competitor’s tablet transformation.
Even as the global market recovers, it’s a prime time to innovate. Does your company have what it takes? Check out the HP Innovation INSIGHT webcast 5 Innovations Your Enterprise Shouldn't Be Without and learn more about critical factors for investing resources that help generate revenue and solve business challenges.
