The Tablet Era is here, and the war for tablet leadership is escalating. On the eve of Microsoft’s tablet entry and the highly anticipated iPad Mini from Apple, the focus on devices is at the forefront. Although it’s still early in the mobile evolution, the success of tablets is fueling a transition that will shift enterprise investment.

Tablet Era Transitioning

A transitional phase of the tablet era is beginning. Devices and form factors are still evolving. New device types are changing competitive priorities. Hybrid devices, like phablets that combine tablet-size screens and a phone, are expanding user choice. Making mobile ecosystems competitive requires more that success with a single device, with Apple responding to the pressure, and the success, of Samsung, Amazon and Google with a smaller tablet.

Tablet Next Phase Means Business

We are exiting a very early phase in mobility that has been dominated by the new technologies and new approaches. Rapidly emerging is movement toward era in which businesses better understand how to use mobile – especially tablets – to change how business gets done.  What began as solid use cases like sales automation, restaurants and other service industries and mobile healthcare is shifting attention toward business integration of mobile across all industries. Business increasingly understands how to leverage and exploit mobile, and tablets are becoming strategic business focus.

Silos of Mobile Initiatives

Corralling BYOD, deploying MDM and MAM tools, integrating content management with mobile environments, bringing mobile to collaboration and social platforms and mobilizing enterprise application software is resulting in isolated silos of individual discrete technologies. Mobile and how mobility is managed are essential, but the strategic role for mobility in the enterprise needs to be employed to bring these currently diverse elements together.

Toward Mobilized Business

The tablet era is still in its infancy, but is moving us rapidly toward an era of mobilized business. A shift is taking place, as enterprises transition their mobile and tablet strategies from technology to business focus. Business use cases at the intersection of mobile, content management strategies, collaboration and social are fueling a coalescence and convergence aimed at business value.