Accenture and Vodafone publish long-term usage report on tablet computers

Great for reading and presenting but not ready to replace a laptop yet, study concludes

Accenture and Vodafone will this week publish joint long-term research on the use of tablet-format computers in the two organisations.

The study, which began in the early days of tablet adoption in November 2010, will guide Accenture's broad roll-out of tablets to employees in its communications and high-tech consultancy division.

"When we first looked at this area, there were lots of sales predictions but not much in terms of real-world business value," Steven Yurisich, industry specialist in communications and high tech at Accenture, told Computing.

"It was a case of going down to the Apple store and buying iPads in fives."

Accenture will issue iOS- and Android-based tablets to its consultants.

"It makes sense for us to have experience with different platforms," said Yurisich.

The report highlights the productivity advantages of tablets for email, document-reading and -presenting, but doesn't shy away from their limitations for content creation.

"Overall, trial participants summarised the main advantages of tablet computers as portability and speedy access to information, and the primary challenges as document creation and editing, and compliance with corporate storage solutions," reads the report.

Participants in the study found that they couldn't replace a conventional laptop or smartphone with a tablet, but were using it as a third device.

"For now, there's still the total cost of ownership calculation to make," said Yurisich.

"Unless you have very high-value employees, such as in a financial services or law firms, you'll find it difficult to justify the business case to roll out to every individual in the company."

The report also highlights issues concerning security, integration with enterprise storage and remodelling of business processes to accommodate tablet use.

"However, tablets can equally have a transformational impact on some business processes, particularly those performed in a mobile environment rather than behind a desk, improving process experience, efficiency and productivity," the report concludes.