Apple's Tablet: App Makers Target Business Use

Software developers are creating applications that they hope will make Apple's tablet useful to business users, too

By Douglas MacMillan

In early February, an Apple (AAPL) rep is scheduled to pay a visit to the Cincinnati offices of Western & Southern Financial Group. Employees have been clamoring for the company to provide support for Apple's iPhone and Mac computers, says Doug Ross, chief technology officer at the fund manager, with $43 billion in assets. So he's eager to hear Apple's pitch. Ross also looks forward to discussing a new type of device altogether: "I think he's going to show us a tablet," Ross says.

A flat, touchscreen computer like the one Apple is expected to introduce Jan. 27 could help wean Western & Southern workers off their reliance on three-ring binders filled with paper and noisy laptops that can be a distraction during meetings, Ross says. "I would love to have [documents] in an electronic form that people could interact with in a friendly way."

Before the Jan. 27 introduction, most speculation and reports on the tablet focused on ways it will be used to showcase books, newspapers, and entertainment. Yet, Apple's new creation may also have an impact in cubicles and boardrooms. "This is going to be huge for business," says Bruce Francis, vice-president for corporate strategy at Salesforce.com (CRM), which created an application that makes its software-based tools available on Apple's iPhone. "Apple has blown through the barriers with the iPhone, and the same thing is going to happen with the tablet."

Software programmers are all too happy to help. In a January survey of more than 500 software developers conducted by mobile app-making service Appcelerator, about 49% of respondents identified business as a category of application they would be interested in creating for the tablet. That was the most popular response, followed by productivity (47%), entertainment (44%), and social networking (42%). Apple is likely to offer a new version of its App Store and tools for creating apps sized to fit the tablet, says Appcelerator CEO Jeff Haynie.

iPhone Snubbed by Many Businesses

IT experts say Apple hasn't traditionally gone to great lengths to cater to business users. "Apple has been widely criticized for not paying enough attention to core business foundation needs in the areas of security, management, and telephony," says Ken Dulaney, analyst at Gartner (IT). While Apple has made security improvements to the iPhone, and added support for Microsoft's (MSFT) e-mail service for businesses, Dulaney says IT managers often snub the iPhone because it lacks features standard on other mobile computers, such as the ability to run multiple applications at once. "Apple has been unwilling to go the extra step that Microsoft and [Research In Motion (RIMM), maker of the BlackBerry] have gone to support the enterprise," he says.

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