Say good-bye to your desktop.
By 2006, only 45 percent of corporate users are expected to consider their desktop to be
their primary information device, according to a new report from Meta Group, Inc., an
industry analyst firm based in Stamford, Conn.
The laptop will be making a surge in the next few years. Meta analysts predict that 40
percent of users will be primarily using a laptop or tablet PC. And another 15 percent will
be using a thin-client or hand-held device.
As users become loss fixated on their desktop, they will turn to multiple devices to keep
them connected to business contacts, as well as family and friends. One device simply won’t
be enough.
”By 2007, the average user will interact regularly with at least
four distinct computing devices — a personal home PC, smart digital entertainment system,
corporate computer, and mobile information device,” noted Steve Kleynhans, vice president
with META Group’s Technology Research Services. ”This multiplicity of devices will force
software vendors to focus on information synchronization, as well as ‘thinning’ or ‘roaming’
applications to enable users to access their information independent of the device they are
using.”
Meta analysts advice IT managers to focus on user needs instead of trying to make the device
fit the person. Be aware of alternative devices coming into the market and how they can be
used to fill mobile computing needs and specific information access needs.
”There is an opportunity in the corporate space, where 60 percent of information workers
are ‘corridor warriors’ who roam from meeting to meeting, to provide users with access to
basic information, such as e-mail, instant messaging and Web browsing, along with
note-taking capabilities while attending meetings on premises,” notes Kleynhans in the
report. ”The devices could even be shared among users or possibly kept in meeting rooms.
Any costs should be outweighed by the increase in meeting productivity for most knowledge
workers.”
Kleynhans points out that right now many tablet PCs do not have enough functions to fill the
primary needs for most workers. But he sees that changing. He says that improved form
factors along with a drop in cost should bring the tablet PC to the mainstream by 2006.
