Discussion on:

Apple iPad 2 review: Why it's still winning with business users

You say "Enterprise is an afterthought .. I doubt we???ll see Apple do the kinds of things Samsung is doing to court the enterprise."

"...10,000 Wi-Fi tablets at a discounted price ..."
Samsung discounting tablets for enterprise is an attempt to get their foot in the door of a market not 'court' it.

"...integrating hardware encryption..."
Hardware integrated encryption is something the iPad has done since day 1. Please see the following: http://www.apple.com/ipad/business/integration/

"... partnering extensively with enterprise software companies ..."
What does this matter when they can publish to the app store? Why would Apple want any contracts with 3rd party software vendors?

The iPad is incrediblyeasy to lock down and control, and isn't that what most 'enterprise' environments look for?

I've been using an HP Slate 500 for over a month for work related to academic and business projects. It runs Window 7 pro and out spec the iPad2 by far. The unit I have gives rock solid performance an par better than most netbooks but with touch and pen interface. I run full MS Office 2010 suite using Outlook as one mail client and Thunderbird as a second. Database applications with locally residing Access files as front end to data tables residing on server work well via mapped drives. When seated in the included docking station that has a HDMI prot, one can connect to projectors for giving PowerPoint presentation. For internet access where WIFI not available I connect the Slate via its bluetooth signal to my smartphone which serves as modem. Given this mobility of an desktop environment, why isn't the product getting the attention of the IT world?

Of course there are better alternatives to the ipad, but people will buy anything with a lower case i in the front of the name and made by Apple.

But the look and form factor play quite a role as well.

. . . or perhaps, just a different one?

Most IT shops I know settled on a single-stack strategy in the 90s/early 2k - largely MS - and it's been difficult for anyone to break into that. Kudos to RIM and Nokia for creating products that was so obviously superior to the WinMobile phones that were the initial preference of most IT departments - which I think paved a lot of the way for Apple.

(One small point - Apple will do bulk deals well below their list prices - provided you are a serious customer - i.e. an educational institution or area authority, University, etc. I doubt anyone can get a deal on iPad 2 right now, due to the supply issues though, but - like Dell - the price on the website isn't neccesarily what businesses pay. Even as a consumer it's worth knowing that their online store will price match).

Just a followup. I have a new iPad2 and love the thing. It is much faster than the older model...which my son has...and I enjoy being able to use it for work. The fact that I can show videos that are used in our marketing processes to clients who have not connected to our Facebook site to see them is much better than trying to show them on my laptop or iPhone.

Business friends that I know are the same gadget freaks who have to have the latest, and don't care if it's practical, all their friend have it (Fad) and they have the money to spend. So if they can find a practical business use (any thing at all), they can convince management to buy them or allow them in the business. Certainly some tablets have a place in business functions, but many people are desperately trying to justify uses that could just as easily be covered by a light notebook (and better suited).

It started off good enough, but it's missing probably the 3 most important things an Enterprise device requires.
1) SECURITY.
2) Easy deployment & device management from the IT group. (i.e. ability to update all devices to the same software at once, without needing to recall each individual device and hook it up one by one.)
3) Blanket licensing and ability to maintain those licenses. Meaning, ability to purchase an office productivity suite for a group of users, and to keep those business-level licenses if the employee decides to leave for another company. Purchases (i.e. iTunes apps) need to be billed to the company. If the employee decides to purchase personal software/music/etc. they have to be able to pay for it themselves. (i.e. won't be billed to the company's credit card / billing account). Likewise if the employee leaves those licenses/purchases must be able to be kept by the employee where they may want to use that software (which they legally purchased) for the next job they're in.

Listen, one of the posters above mentioned that the apps will catch the ipad2 up with business needs and that could not be more obvious. I use mine quite a bit for work. All the people whining about iTunes I don't understand. I never have any issues with it at all. Maybe they can't figure it out, but I can't fix stupid.

The killer app that would absolutely change the entire business landscape, and make Microsoft a sheetload of green cabbage, would be to put out Office for the iPad. I don't care about the challenge of making it. If they put that out for $100.00, they will sell MILLIONS of them.

I have three clients (I provide tech consulting and software development) in construction, painting, and other typically low-tech, non-office worker businesses that are buying iPads as fast as they can get them to their employees. They are used for estimating jobs, filling out work orders, inventory management, scheduling and other things that were typically done on a clip board. Size (phones are too small), battery life, simplicity, durability, are the big advantages. These companies don't have any "enterprise" infrastructure to worry about so integration is easier for us.

It sounds as if it would be best in a meeting or travel environment, especially if the user has to prep material or read a number of documents. As many iPad 1 folks seems happy with that edition, which works as well in many ways, the older model may still be a good option. At a price $100 below the new version it is in direct competition dollar-wise with netbooks. As one reader noted, he uses both (though he uses iPad 2).

Now I don't know whether to wait for the third generation to show up or to sping for last year's model.

I still don't see why business users need an iPad. There are smartphones with HDMI output which is sufficient to do presentations already. I'm also pretty sure there are no mobile device that can beat the Blackberry for emails.

There's plenty of DLNA apps for the iPad and iPhone. Some work pretty well indeed with certain DLNA renderers.

The problem seems to be with the DLNA protocol it self. It is notmreally realiable within my experiences.

I later bought an Apple TV and attached it to my DLNA TV. Since that, I am using it instead.

Yet another shameless apple "paid advertisement". I know you fanboys are hell bent on convincing other to cross to the dark side of the force. I agree that Apple makes great consumer products, but they are still light years away from the enterprise. Pulling magic numbers like "50% of iPad users are professionals" out of you know where doesn't help your case.

I am a business user and everything I need is better served by the playbook with its security, email, word/excel attachement, web surfing (streaming videos) and tethering to my blackberry...all the rest is comparable, except for all the apps...typical American obsession that more is better...who needs all those mindless games and plug ins.

what drives me nuts, and not just with the iPad, but all these new devices, not one of them offer direct printing! yes you can print if you have wi-fi, but what about using for a sales person on the road? being able to print to a mobile printer, print a web page while using a 3g connection would open this up to a whole market for web apps or other POS packages!

I have an iPad 2, and also a MacBook 17" Pro... I'm not involved in the Mac vs PC debate, as I still do have a Desktop PC at home. Don't use it much, but don't hate it, I'm a web developer so it's useful for checking compatibility of sites etc. I chose the MacBook after having a couple of laptop's die an early death in the past, so thought I'd give the Mac a try... I have to say very impressed, but that's not to say I've any issues with the way my PC laptop's performed.

I think the issue that's becoming clouded with the iPad, is people's perception of what it is for. I never envisage the iPad replacing my MacBook for my work, nor do I want it to. Processing power, memory, storage space... None of those suggest it should even be suggesting ditching my MacBook.

It sounds like the major complaints have come from people with a more advanced technical ability... Granted, there are tablets our there that may cover some of the issues they're addressing, but it's not really what the iPad is aimed at. Bar the high end Mac desktops and laptops, Apple's products are aimed at the masses. Don't get me wrong, some of those features may well be handy, but for anybody who requires that much functionality, surely they'll own a laptop at least.

I find my iPad fantastic for presentation, and would highly recommend it to anybody looking to use it for that business purpose. It actually helps to have the "limitations" brought about by not having my laptop. It can become increasingly frustrating with clients echo-ing "can you just?"... With the iPad, for most part they're wow'd by the device, and they don't expect me to be able to do quite so much with it as my laptop. It's purely a presentation, so no straying from the matter in hand, and I can make amendments and do my work later in the comfort of my own office.

All in all, a great product. I don't really have much use for the camera's, so I've not really got any comments to pass. My main criticism will always have to be the Apple/Adobe flash issue; As a web developer, a lot of the sites I may frequent use flash... I don't really use flash any more, but that's not to say it doesn't have its uses...

Maybe one day Apple and Adobe will find a processor friendly way of running flash... Or not? That's just one of the many reasons an iPad will never fully replace a PC or Mac, but I guess it was never meant to anyways...

You may have some tough luck with non-Apple products but I have some old IBM T60(pentium M) and some Pentium 4 HP Compaq lappies. Your dead units do not justify the entire lines of PCs and FYI, the old glorious Apple PowerPC architecture are long gone and no longer Apple's. Today, Apple machines are merely powered by X86 processors and a Unix based OS. It's not much different from a Linux powered PC except it's not "Mac apps compatible" and it's not being totally controlled by Apple.

There is a simple solution for enterprise security. Cisco any connect client for iPad if you have cisco ASAs in the network.

Sync to the exchange calander so excellent in meetings for note
Excellent for WebExs

Runs sales force and other CRMs the only issue is document creation.

S iPad have some problem in accessing outlook. But i am using outlookreflex for access all my outlook emails in desktop from iPad.

Don't know what Xoom the reviewer was using but mine gets way more battery life than the 7-8 posted here. Now before anyone says that I just don't use it as much, I'd like to say this thing is glued into my hands almost all day and the only time its not is when I am asleep.

I totally fail to understand this article.

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Nearly everyone I know that has an iPad is a business user who bought the tablet for business meetings, answering emails from the couch or the bedroom
end quote

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Email app needs major improvement
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It also doesnt integrate any of the features of popular email clients, such as Microsoft Outlook and Gmail, and it does not handle attachments very well.
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... and out of the window the ipad flies ...

Does anyone read these articles? Does anyone try to understand them even? Are business users indeed happy using email apps that are next to useless?