Could the iPad lose its grip on the enterprise? A provocative new whitepaper — from former AMD executive Patrick Moorhead, now an analyst with Moor Insights and Strategy — argues yes.

New Tablets Are Field-Service-Friendly
Moorhead took a look at rival tablets from HP, Lenovo, and Dell and compared these devices to the iPad. The conclusion? Apple has some competition. These tablets have removable batteries that will allow for extended battery life, they natively support credential managers and VPNs because they were build with Windows, and they have memory-card slots, and ports.
That last point hits close to home for field techs that need ports to connect diagnostic devices and other peripherals. For example, both the Dell Latitude 10 and the Lenovo ThinkPad 2 come standard with USB and memory card readers, allowing field techs to connect critical devices to their tablets. Even with an adapter, the iPad cannot connect via USB. While this may not matter much for sales representatives or human resources, this capability is of utmost importance for field service.
But a lack of ports isn’t the only thing that could drive field techs from the iPad. While Apple’s device can take a drop on carpet, the same can’t be said for other surfaces. Field techs working in more rugged environments may want a tougher device. As the paper concludes:
“…Enterprise tablets now exist that provide the best of both worlds between end user and IT, which puts the Apple in a precarious position of needing to add more robust enterprise features. Until that point, Moor Insights & Strategy recommends enterprises re-evaluate their iPad pilots and deployments. Enterprises should immediately evaluate the latest enterprise tablet offerings from HP, Dell and Lenovo and make their decisions on future deployments incorporating those additional options.”
I’ve been telling my Dad for years, Android can do anything that Apple can do, only better! Glad to see this topic being discussed as tablets are becoming more and more useful in the workplace.
Thanks for the reply — I don’t think Moorhead’s report suggests that iPads won’t still be pretty dominant. It’s more about there being some serious competition now, perhaps more fierce in the enterprise market than it is for consumers. I’m curious to see if Apple might create a more business version of iPad down the road….
Its a good point and companies like Motorola and Honeywell (Intermec) will attest to achieving better long term ROI with an “enterprise grade” mobile device. I’d been asked a lot about this topic so put together an article on how to select an enterprise mobile device.
http://adamsivell.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/how-to-select-mobile-device-for.html
Thanks for the note, Adam. What mobile devices/platforms do you favor?