After iPad’s Head Start,Rival Tablets Are Poised to Flood Offices

The billboards promoting the iPad have a simple message: The tablet is a device for leisure， to be held on one’s lap while lounging on a couch in casual clothes， to watch a film or read a magazine.Ted Schadler， a vice president and principal analyst with Forrester Research， said he expected that tens of millions of tablets would be in use in America’s workplaces by 2015.“That’s huge growth，” Mr. Schadler said.“It will be the fastest uptake of any device in the enterprise ever. The new tablets are also expected to give the iPad， which has had the market largely to itself， a run for its money. R.I.M.， which makes BlackBerry phones， and H.P. have long relationships with corporate technology buyers. For its part， Apple is hoping to stay ahead of competitors with a new version of the iPad， which may be unveiled as soon as next month.The company， which sold nearly 15 million iPads in the nine months after the release of the device， won’t say how many were bought by businesses. But during a conference call with investors and analysts in January， the company said more than 80 percent of Fortune 100 companies were using or testing the iPad， an increase from 65 percent three months earlier.Meanwhile， data from makers of business apps suggest that use in corporations is widespread. The tablet’s road to the workplace has been conventional at times， with technology departments buying them for employees. For example， Life Technologies， a California company that makes products for the biotech industry， has handed out iPads to some 600 executives and salespeople.The trend， which the industry calls “consumerization，” represents a significant shift from the last few decades， when the most advanced technologies were first available in the workplace and eventually migrated into consumer products.For all its inroads in the workplace， neither the iPad nor any other tablet has displaced the PC， the workhorse of information workers for three decades， at least not yet. But that hasn’t stopped Apple’s perennial rival， Microsoft， from fretting over the tablet’s intrusion into the world of business computing， which it has dominated.To a large extent the iPad’s entry into the business world was paved by the iPhone. When Apple first released the iPhone， it lacked capabilities to link up securely with corporate e-mail systems. But as executives tried the device， they often preferred it to their BlackBerrys and other smartphones， and soon began demanding support for them.Companies that waited two or three years to support the iPhone began adopting the iPad just weeks after its release.“It was a very natural extension to provide support for iPad because it runs on the same operating system，” said John Prusnick， director of information technology innovation and strategy at Hyatt Hotel Resorts， which is based in Chicago. Mr. Prusnick said that at first Hyatt executives asked to use iPads at work. Then the company began giving them to its salespeople， so they could have easy access to interactive presentations about all the company’s properties when making pitches to business customers.Now， in some of its hotels， Hyatt is giving iPads to “l(fā)obby ambassadors，” who use it to expedite guest checkouts when there are long lines， and who can offer concierge services on the fly.General Electric has distributed approximately 2，000 iPads internally， and it developed a series of applications both for its employees and for its customers. One app allows employees to approve purchase orders on the go， while another allows utility service personnel to monitor G.E. transformers in the field.“It is remarkable how fast the iPad has spread in our business，” said Linda Boff， global director of marketing communications at G.E.“Of course， I still have a PC，” Mr. Benioff said. “But I am using it less and less and I am using my iPad more.” He called 2011 “the year of the tablet” and added: “If you call me next year， I will say it is also the year of the tablet. And if you call me in 2013， I’ll tell you it’s going to be the year of the tablet.”Not every company is ready to pull out the checkbook to buy iPads for employees. In a recent interview with Fortune， Diane Bryant， the chief information officer of Intel， said the chip maker was supporting iPads that employees bring in， but she added: “I’ve never found anyone that was willing to give back a $1，200 notebook in exchange for a tablet. They look at you like you’re crazy. I’d love to give out tablets， but I only have so much capital budget.” (New York Times)