So much for the iPad being a consumption-only device. We got it month ago, when we realized that Apple’s latest creation wasn’t meant for consuming content (though it’s great at it) but for creating, too. 11.000 approved apps in 4 months must mean something.
Still, with the iPhone things weren’t that great in 2007, when the device was just released and Apple wanted to persuade businesses and large IT corporations to adopt the device and massively deploy it to their employees. It didn’t happen: there weren’t apps tailored to IT users, there was no Exchange support, no encryption (a strong selling point of BlackBerry devices, or so they say), no possibility to deploy apps developed in house (actually, there was no App Store, either).
Not with the iPad. Businesses are loving it.
As you remember, we previously reported about the corporate world slowly moving to a more Apple-oriented environment. According to this WSJ report, many businesses are “jumping on this one” (said Ted Schadler, an analyst at Forrester Research). They’re happy because the operating system has been refined over the years (all the aforementioned missing features are gone), and they’re interested in checking out the hundreds of business applications currently available in the iPad App Store.
A few excerpts from the article:
One example is the Chicago law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, which banned the iPhone when it first came out yet preordered 10 iPads in the run up to the tablet’s release in April.
“We made sure that we knew as much about these devices as possible,” said Michael Barnas, the firm’s director of application services. The technology department now offers access to its internal systems for more than 50 iPad-toting attorneys, and anticipates issuing iPads as an alternative to laptops as soon as next year.
[…]
For example, Mercedes-Benz Financial, which provides loans and leases for Daimler AG, has equipped some dealerships with an iPad loaded with its app. (we also reported this one)
[…]
Bausch & Lomb Inc., which makes eye-care products, built its own iPad app for its salespeople. The company said it had about 50 employees using iPads in the field within a week and a half of the device’s release. “
With Macs also growing fast in enterprises, is it time for Apple to become the new Microsoft (and Numbers the new Office) and let the iPad lead the revolution of IT businesses adopting iOS devices? Only time will tell. This time though, there is a whole App Store to start with.
