Are you prepared to implement tablets in your business?  More specifically, how have you adjusted your hardware spending plans, your software purchase plans, your IT development plans, your field technology deployment plans and your staffing plans to spend less on servers and PCs while spending more on tablets?  Unfortunately, far too many companies are stuck in their Microsoft/PC relationship – effectively waiting on their vendor to bring them a solution – something specifically CIO Magazine warns against in “You are Not Your Vendor.”

We’ve watched the unprecedented explosion in iPad adoption.  in just a few months iPad sales have become as large as iPod – the product that turned around Apple’s fortunes.

Apple-rev-by-segment-6-10
Source: Silicon Alley Insider

Cisco has launched a tablet according to Channel InsiderCisco Cius:  The iPad Killer.”  Hewlett Packard (HP) is launching a tablet using the WebOS operating system from its new acquisition Palm according to Channel Insider in “Microsoft – HP Tablet War.”  As new tablets are launched without using Microsoft products the software giant increasingly looks like it’s missed the boat – even as Channel Insider offers up 10 ideas for how Microsoft could try to get in the game in “Windows 7 vs. Cisco Cius.”

So, have you started developing future scenarios – both business and technical – that incorporate using tablets?  CIO Magazine recommends “Use Scenario Planning to Get Beyond Legacy Systems.”  Have you started testing different tablets to learn how they can improve your business – and what the differences are between vendors?  If you aren’t, then your legacy investment (and your legacy vendor) will keep you using old technology.  If you’re stuck with PCs while others adopt the next wave you will find yourself wandering around in the Microsoft Lock-in – while the market moves rapidly in a different direction!  While this may seem fine today, and cheaper than changing, what you risk is losing business to competitors who move quicker, adopting tablets and their applications to improve performance and lower cost.