Robert Gadd, President & Chief Strategist at OnPoint Digital (http://www.onpointdigital.com), joins us to discuss innovative uses of tablets for your business... Read the Transcript

Robert Gadd President & Chief Strategist OnPoint Digital  http://OnPointDigital.com

Formerly President & CTO of eDeploy, Inc., a leader in web-based project collaboration tools for global systems integrators & carriers funded by Cisco Systems (1997-2001) Formerly Chief Technology Officer at Datatec (Nasdaq: DATC), a global systems integrator with 25 offices/950 resources specializing in complex network deployments (1992-1997)

This month, we award the spotlight to tablet computers and how these innovations have virtually eliminated the need to print documents and brought new dimensions of productivity and training to businesses.  In this article we explore how tablet computers are revolutionizing business operations and how other companies can take lessons from these innovative ideas. Tablet computers have existed for a number of years. All of the major computer companies developed some sort of tablet that didn’t survive the initial market pressures. Tablets needed to be smaller than laptop computers, have a longer battery life, and have features that were different than laptops. More interaction and less just attaching a keyboard to a screen. The Consumer Electronics Show demonstrated over 300 new tablets ideas at the most recent conference in Las Vegas... the tablet is where consumers want to interact with their personal reading material and the world. Where does this leave printing companies? Hopefully thinking about a new business model that takes advantage of this trend. As they become more mainstream tablets provide other benefits for every business. They have transformed reading into a situation where it has the intimacy of reading a book alone with the ability to share what someone else provided the working group. Tablets provide the perfect means of carrying documents around without paper. They also provide the best way to edit those documents on the fly without whiteout or pen scratches.  Lastly, tablets boost productivity through portability. Employees don’t have to print X copies for the meeting. They don’t have to remember to print out the deck before going to the presentation. They can also bring their latest designs to the table and show the group what they are working on in real time... and edit it accordingly. To turn the tablet computing trend into an advantage for your business, consider the following. Tablet computers are bad news for printers but a boom for publishing. This expanded universe of information means more learning for your organization. Consider tablet computers for training your workforce. Use tablet computers to eliminate costs and increase efficiency. While you are at it, custom apps make tablets ideal for team agility. Lastly, tablets are not yet the silver bullet. There are still some specialized tasks that need more horsepower, so don’t throw out your laptop just yet.