Managing the Changing IT Landscape: Tablets in the Enterprise
If you’re like most people, you think calculating tablet TCO (total cost of ownership) is a relatively simple prospect. There’s the cost of the tablet, which is sometimes employee-owned, plus network connectivity. What else is there to think about? Well, after much digging, I’m here to tell you there’s a lot more to it.
The Intel IT Center recently published a quick guide that offers some insight, “Evaluating Tablet TCO in the Enterprise”. It covers the range of cost categories to consider, and it reveals the findings of a TCO research study comparing three different tablet models over two years. The results were pretty interesting.
The bottom line is that the cost of the tablet represents only 20 to 35 percent of total operations and support costs. Associated costs can span multiple business groups and include a range of factors, from procurement, integration, and applications to risk management and support. And there are peripherals, software, and user training, as well as security and management solutions. Costs also depend on the enterprise support model you choose for tablets, which can be classified into one of the following categories:
- Basic services – This BYOD model includes tablets that are supported as companion devices with access to a limited set of corporate services.
- Partial-enterprise integration – This partially managed model includes IT-approved devices that integrate business apps to support workflows. These tablets can be employee-purchased, employer-subsidized, or employer-purchased.
- Full-enterprise integration – This fully managed model includes employer-purchased tablets used as primary devices with comprehensive security and support.
Does your organization plan to integrate tablets? If so, which enterprise support model will you use, and why? And when it comes to tablet TCO, which costs are most significant for you?
Chris
@chris_p_intel
#Consumerization #TabletTCO