Point features will cure tablet headaches
Tablet computers are remarkable additions to the computing space and are devices that are likely to change the technology landscape forever; however, their infiltration into the enterprise IT environment is a headache for most IT managers.
That’s because, aside from the changes IT managers need to make to their security posture in order for these devices to be considered safe, there’s a number of infrastructural changes that need to be effected before executives and other knowledge workers can use their tablet computers meaningfully.
“And often it’s simple challenges, like the inability for file shares to be accessible to tablet computer users, or for corporate e-mail to be shared with tablet users due them not adhering to the same standards,” says Adrian Delport, HP IPG GM at Tarsus Technologies.
Solving these individual niggles is less of a hassle than one would think, however.
“Instead of listing all of the challenges faced and then attempting to deal with them as one project, IT managers should deal with the various issues as they arise,” Delport says.
This way, Delport adds, IT managers have some way of dealing with the changes tablet computing brings, while at the same time remaining aware of the fact that the tablet market – because of its immaturity – is in a state of constant change anyway.
Delport says that a perfect example of a fix that companies should be jumping on straight away is HP’s innovation around e-printing and how successfully this has been brought into the enterprise sector.
“Printing from a tablet or cloud-enabled smartphone has always been a challenge, and because of this, it wasn’t uncommon to see a tablet user e-mailing a document to a colleague to print for them. But, with HP’s e-printing solution, that has changed,” says Delport.
“Users simply install an application on their smartphone or tablet, activate it within their enterprise, search for network printers in their vicinity and send documents to be printed. If their smartphone or tablet isn’t supported, they can always fall back on the built-in e-mail-to-print feature that works on virtually any Internet-enabled device,” Delport says.
In this case, users’ e-mail addresses will have to be approved by a central policy that allows them access to e-mail-to-print functionality.
Supported file formats include Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, Adobe PDF files, Image files, HTML files, text and rich text files, and XPS documents.
“And it’s surprising just how much of a difference such a feature makes in the business environment,” he says.
Ultimately, Delport says the tablet revolution is upon users, and a great deal more will have to change over the coming years.
“As long as vendors continue innovating and companies remain receptive to those innovations, it will be fine,” he concludes.
That’s because, aside from the changes IT managers need to make to their security posture in order for these devices to be considered safe, there’s a number of infrastructural changes that need to be effected before executives and other knowledge workers can use their tablet computers meaningfully.
“And often it’s simple challenges, like the inability for file shares to be accessible to tablet computer users, or for corporate e-mail to be shared with tablet users due them not adhering to the same standards,” says Adrian Delport, HP IPG GM at Tarsus Technologies.
Solving these individual niggles is less of a hassle than one would think, however.
“Instead of listing all of the challenges faced and then attempting to deal with them as one project, IT managers should deal with the various issues as they arise,” Delport says.
This way, Delport adds, IT managers have some way of dealing with the changes tablet computing brings, while at the same time remaining aware of the fact that the tablet market – because of its immaturity – is in a state of constant change anyway.
Delport says that a perfect example of a fix that companies should be jumping on straight away is HP’s innovation around e-printing and how successfully this has been brought into the enterprise sector.
“Printing from a tablet or cloud-enabled smartphone has always been a challenge, and because of this, it wasn’t uncommon to see a tablet user e-mailing a document to a colleague to print for them. But, with HP’s e-printing solution, that has changed,” says Delport.
“Users simply install an application on their smartphone or tablet, activate it within their enterprise, search for network printers in their vicinity and send documents to be printed. If their smartphone or tablet isn’t supported, they can always fall back on the built-in e-mail-to-print feature that works on virtually any Internet-enabled device,” Delport says.
In this case, users’ e-mail addresses will have to be approved by a central policy that allows them access to e-mail-to-print functionality.
Supported file formats include Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, Adobe PDF files, Image files, HTML files, text and rich text files, and XPS documents.
“And it’s surprising just how much of a difference such a feature makes in the business environment,” he says.
Ultimately, Delport says the tablet revolution is upon users, and a great deal more will have to change over the coming years.
“As long as vendors continue innovating and companies remain receptive to those innovations, it will be fine,” he concludes.
