Gartner Says Business Should Just Adopt Tablets Already

Media tablets may be, at the moment, more or less limited to the consumer market, but it looks like some analysts would like to see them used in businesses, even saying that policies, technologies and enterprise skill sets should evolve to include them.

The media tablet has become a real phenomenon on the worldwide IT market, mostly because of how fast sales escalated.

Needless to say, the Apple iPad (now iPad 2) accounts for the majority of sales, but ARM-powered Android models have been seeing some success as well.

Due to their wide feature set, Gartner believes they should start being used in the business sector sooner instead of later.

In fact, its recent press release states that slates present many new opportunities for businesses, the same way some included iPhones in their daily activities.

"CIOs are determined not to make the same mistakes they made with smartphones, which were often written off early as expensive and frivolous toys, or executive status symbols - which then left room for more inventive leaders who saw the competitive advantage that mobile applications would bring," said David Willis, research vice president at Gartner.

"They are also more willing to see that they don't need to supply and manage every device that employees use at work: Consumerization is here to stay, and moving very fast. If you can think of an application for tablets, your competition may well be thinking in the same way — and acting on it. It is time to explore the use of media tablets in business."

Granted, while slates are seen as promising in this sector, the information technology research and advisory company does admit that, before slates can take their place on the professional sector, mandatory skill sets, policies and technologies will have to be modified.

Gartner also said that there isn't really much chance for tablets to replace smartphones or laptops, but should easily complement them thanks to the merger of a large form factor with fast startup, long battery life and overall high responsiveness.