On the Quickoffice blog recently, we looked at iPads in the enterprise, including the uptake in BYOD (bring your own device) policies, as well as a company that deployed iPads and Quickoffice to increase productivity for their mobile employees and increase ROI for their company.

Another recent article and discussion caught our attention; this one focused on issues that need to be considered before integrating tablets in the enterprise. There are more than a handful of concerns associated with employers incorporating tablets, including formatting issues, consumption policies and hosted virtual desktops. For example, when data is transferred from one device to another, especially if they run on different operating systems, the formatting can be off, which doesn’t bode well for company or employee use. In terms of consumption, each employee will use his or her device differently, creating differing amounts of data used. Employers, therefore, will need to integrate and trace consumption policies appropriately.

While policies and integration techniques will differ from firm to firm, there are solutions for overcoming these issues, which we believe begins with creating a strict policy, integration plan and a detailed security strategy. On that note, it’s important to solidify a mobile app purchasing and usage policy, so that employees are clear regarding which apps can and should be purchased, which are always off limits and which are safe / unsafe.

Do you use a tablet at work? Do you know how your employer handles it?