One of my favorite blogs to follow is UberMobile, run by Eric Lai – as it covers lots of interesting topics around mobile technology in the enterprise. It offers a great look at how mobile tech (both hardware and mobile apps) are being put to use in enterprise environments.
Two recent posts at UberMobile caught my eye, as they featured details on a couple of huge rollouts of iPads at blue-chip companies. The first is at SAP, where Lai works, a world leader in enterprise application software. By the end of 2011, SAP had rolled out 14,000 iPads to employees around the world – and rollouts will continue this year and may reach 20,000 by the end of 2012. And these iPads are being deployed as real work devices as well:
Every iPad came with a suite of useful enterprise apps. Salespeople and managers got CRM and BI dashboards, along with the standard e-mail and VPN. These made the iPads more than toys, but real tools.
The other huge iPad rollout recently covered at UberMobile is by Genentech, a leading biotechnology company. Genentech have rolled out 7,000 iPads and 17,000 iOS devices to staff around the world. They’ve also deployed over 60 apps to their employees.
Eric Lai also maintains an excellent list of all the biggest iPad deployments in the enterprise – it’s a great reminder of the impressive impact of the iPad in the enterprise arena.