Diversions January 8, 2015

Tablets Useful, More Common in Business

Tablets in the workplace are good for business, increasing mobility and productivity while getting a favorable reception from employees, according to Dell’s International Tablet Survey.

Reported by

Jill Cornfield

The online survey explores employer tablet policies, purchase habits, business impacts, operational challenges, and how well tablet brands met expectations. At least nine in 10 tech departments worldwide (except Japan) report that tablets are a standard part of their company’s IT operations—either employee or company supplied—or are currently under evaluation. Leading nations where companies offer tablets are China, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Brazil, the U.K., France, India and Russia.

More than half the companies surveyed in Russia, India, China and the U.S. allow employees to use tablets purchased with their own money. At least half the companies in China, the U.S. and India allow employees to use their own tablets purchased with the help of company funds.

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Android is the most frequently used operating system globally for tablets, and most commonly named by India, Brazil, Russia, South Africa, China, UAE, Saudi Arabia, France and the U.K. Windows takes the top spot in the U.S., and iOS is tops in Japan.

In most countries, tech departments that say tablet adoption increased their company’s productivity say the devices make working while traveling easier, allow better customer service, provide faster or more convenient access to information while out of the office or in the field or allow real-time entry of information to reduce duplicated work.

Also among the findings:

In all countries except India, at least nine in 10 companies report that employees think tablets help with workplace tasks.
In all countries, most tech departments in organizations where tablets are not offered or are under evaluation report that they have received employee input that favors the use of tablets for work.
In the U.S., the U.K., India, Japan, China, Brazil, France, Russia and South Africa, most tech departments of companies offering tablets report that the devices met the expectations their company had for them.
Most tech departments in the U.S., the U.K., India, Japan, China, Brazil, France, Russia and South Africa plan to deploy more tablets into their workforce in the future.