Inside The Industry - Motion Computing

For this month’s Inside The Industry, I interviewed Valerie Walden, VP of marketing for tablet computing vendor Motion Computing.

Tablet computers have traditionally fit the needs of very niche markets. Is this still the case?
Yes, tablets are still very vertical. We find that third-party applications—developed by independent software vendors [ISVs]—lead the solutions. Tablet computer adoption is dependent upon very specific applications, from CRM [customer relationship management] software for certain markets to aviation solutions like flight planning.

What key verticals are finding the most use for tablet computing?
We identify four verticals that make up our market share: healthcare services, state and local governments, field sales and service, and higher education. Here are some examples within each vertical:

• Healthcare – this includes hospitals, specialty practices, and home healthcare networks and the tablet users include doctors, nurses, and mobile workers
  
• Government – this includes first responders and military users
  
• Field sales and service – this can include jobs from real estate brokers who need to show detailed listings and photos while standing to manufacturing foremen who need to survey areas and make annotations
  
• Higher education – most campuses are wireless, so professors can use tablets to host presentations, make notes directly on the tablet while presenting, and then save those notes on the tablet.

Do you see much overlap of job functions that use laptops with job functions that use tablets?
No, tablets provide very specific job functionality, so there isn’t much overlap. For example, sales reps using laptops walk into a client’s office and move from a sitting place to a sitting place to have conversations and input orders. The reps can’t walk around with an open laptop and many times don’t even bring it onto the premises. If walking around is vital to a mobile worker’s job, he or she will use a tablet. At the most basic level of understanding, tablets replace paper – that is, jobs where checking off a list, making notes, and filling in forms is a major part of the job function. Those forms and notes can be replicated on tablets.

If I’m an end user considering deploying tablets, what groundwork should I do to decide if they’re right for my company?
First, look at your applications. You might have a homegrown CRM application or an Oracle-based system. You should first make sure the program will work on the Windows XP tablet OS. We have an ISV program, as well as a Microsoft VP on staff, to work with companies to determine whether their internal applications are compatible with the tablet OS. Applications and programs that work on the Windows XP OS should work on the tablet OS with some minor modifications.