Are you still stuck behind a desk at work?

If some predictions are correct, you may not be by this time next year. As technology analysts and media outlets publish their annual lists of trends expected for 2012, many are pointing to an explosion in worker mobility initiatives across a wide variety of industries as one of the top forecasts for enterprise technology.

While mobility has been on the rise for several years, 2012 will be the “Year of Mobile Ascendency,” as mobile computers and smartphones surpass PCs in both spending and shipments for the first time ever, according to industry analyst firm IDC. The firm also predicts that mobile data network spending will exceed fixed data network spending for the first time.

According to a survey of U.S. companies conducted by The Yankee Group, a research and advisory firm, many are prioritizing investments in mobile technology over traditional IT projects. The analysts also note in a report published in partnership with Mobile Enterprise magazine that mobility is becoming more pervasive throughout the entire enterprise. According to the Mobile Enterprise “Mobility Outlook 2012,” field workers today represent less than a third of all mobile computer users within U.S. firms – today’s mobile worker is just as likely to be an intra-office mobile worker, telecommuter or frequent business traveler.

Over the past several years, more and more companies in a variety of industries have discovered the advantages mobile computers can offer by improving efficiency, productivity and customer growth. However, several obstacles have limited full-scale mobile technology deployment for many organizations, including security and device management concerns, ruggedness and durability, and technological limitations. As 2012 brings new mobile technology built specifically for enterprise use, such as Panasonic’s Toughpad family of tablets – offering security embedded at the hardware level, advanced device management features, enterprise-focused app offerings and MIL-STD-810G-rated ruggedness and durability – you can expect more enterprises to take another look at mobility initiatives for their employees.

What else is in store for enterprise technology in 2012?

Cloud computing: Hand-in-hand with the continued rise of worker mobility will be the expanded importance of cloud-based computing, which allows users to access services and data stored in “the cloud” over the Internet. With the national expansion of 4G wireless networks and the introduction of more 4G-capable mobile devices like the Toughpad tablets, the productivity and efficiency of today’s mobile worker is only expected to grow. Analysts, including those at IDC, see more enterprises shifting toward long-range implementation and integration strategies for cloud adoption, and taking advantage of cloud-computing services ranging along a spectrum from open public to closed private.

Social: Social technology – social networking, collaboration, publishing and other tools – is expected to continue to grow in prominence for enterprises as more companies discover the new avenues they provide for effective communication and engagement both with customers and internally, analyst firm Gartner predicts. The researchers predict that social technology will be integrated with most business applications by 2016.

Big Data: Today’s increasingly connected world means enterprises have access to extremely large volumes of data – collected from diverse sources including customer sales interactions, social networks and internal sources. Industry analysts expect more companies to tackle the challenge of tapping into these mountains of unstructured data that are full of rich information to support business decisions, but challenging to understand and analyze. IDC expects new technologies and vendors in 2012 that will help enterprises dig in to the growing digital universe – expected to expand to 2.7 zettabytes (ZB) of data by year’s end – as a business intelligence tool.

From increased mobility to better integration of social technology and big data analysis, analysts see enterprise technology continuing to evolve in 2012. What tech trends do you see happening this year?

Today, tablet computers – with features including high-powered processors, wireless broadband connectivity and large screens designed to display rich media content – make all this possible and more. As a tool for retailers, tablets have the potential to transform the industry, changing the way stores do business and enhancing the shopping experience for customers.

Interest in tablets is growing across all types of businesses – results of a Forrester Research survey released earlier this year showed that one in four large enterprises were planning to implement or had implemented tablet computers as part of their technology strategies. By 2015, the tablet market in the U.S. alone is expected to generate more than $7 billion in revenue, according to Yankee Group analysts.

While some companies in recent years have experimented with the use of consumer-grade tablet devices, their lack of enterprise-ready features have held back full-scale deployment. Today, purpose-built tablets such as the Toughpad A1 and the Toughpad B1 – with rugged design, security embedded at the hardware level, enterprise-focused app stores offering applications customized for business needs, and mobile device management tools allowing centralized control of devices – offer all the power and usability of consumer tablet devices but are built specifically for enterprise use, allowing adoption across all types of enterprises to shift into high gear.

Tablets have the potential to be a “game changer” in retail, where they can empower shoppers and sales staff alike, said Joe Skorupa, editor in chief of Mobile Enterprise and Retail Info Systems News, in a special supplement on tablets in retail published in June. He noted that smartphones and other high-powered mobile devices have become a common sight in customers’ hands, but retailers have been slower to catch on; however, tablets have the potential to level the playing field and “provide sales associates with the same amount of fire power.”

On the sales floor, tablets can provide sales associates unprecedented ability to enhance customers’ shopping experiences, by giving them on-the-spot access to everything from product specs to photos of alternate colors and videos of the product in action. Tablets’ screens of up to 10 inches make them the perfect fit for sharing this content with customers, and their other functionalities allow for a multitude of other uses including serving as a mobile point of sale system. Devices with daylight-viewable screens such as the Toughpad tablets can even be used in outdoor sales environments like car lots or home and garden centers.

Even outside of customer transactions, tablets can streamline business processes by allowing for real-time access to sales or inventory data – for example, a manager can instantly view how much of an item is left on the shelf of a warehouse miles away without ever leaving the store. Cameras on next-generation tablets can be used as barcode or QR code scanners, and they can be equipped with accessories such as printers or card readers for usage across a retail enterprise.

Today’s availability of tablets built tough enough for the sales floor means we’re at the brink of a transformation in retail. As a tool to empower sales staff and to enhance customers’ shopping experiences, tablets have countless possibilities to be a true “game changer” for retailers.

According to a USA Today article from earlier in 2011, Apple claimed that the iPad has been tested or deployed at 80% of Fortune 100 companies. Even vertical industries, such as healthcare, are not immune to the use of tablets: a recent survey found 27 percent of primary care providers and specialists say they use iPads at work.

Given the increased demand from enterprise clients for tablets and the fragile nature of consumer tablets (as demonstrated in this video) case manufacturers have started to address these intrinsic drawbacks by making ruggedized cases to help increase the durability of these devices, with some case manufacturers even claiming IP ratings and MIL-Spec certification. Despite some of the wild claims made by manufactures of rugged cases, most are simply marketing hype, as ZDNet’s Jason’s Perlow recently discovered.

The main argument against ruggedized mobile devices has always been their higher prices. Many enterprises do not need military grade ruggedness — let’s face it: most enterprise users are not going to need mobile devices to be rammer-resistant or ATV proof — so the temptation to add a ruggedized case to a $500 consumer grade tablet is compelling.

However, as with any mission critical mobile deployment, the environment where a device is deployed needs to be a key consideration, because simply wrapping a consumer device in a rugged case will not address every potential issue.   This could result in highly reduced efficiencies, user downtime and elevated IT support costs.

Even if the iPad is a rousing success in the consumer space, it will still be a challenge to translate the iPad’s user experience into an equally satisfying solution for vertical markets due to the unique needs of each industry. As Jeff Orr of ABI Research noted in an interview with ZDNet, “The reality today is that enterprises are evaluating the iPad because they have to, not necessarily because they want to.”

Panasonic aims to address these unique requirements with the release of its rugged enterprise tablet, the Toughpad A1 tablet, just released last month. Our Toughpad tablet will address key shortcomings of consumer tablets, by delivering a product designed with security, functionality and real-world reliability in mind. Moreover, like all Toughbook products, the Toughpad tablet will be designed and constructed with the mission-critical mobile user in mind, offering durability, and ingress protection consistent with our other fully-rugged devices.

True enterprise-ready devices are capable of much more than just being able to withstand an occasional drop or splash; they are purpose-built to offer the right mix of durability and productivity features to drive maximum ROI to the mission-critical mobile user.

Has a consumer tablet ever come-up short for you in the field? We welcome you to share some of your stories of frustration with us.

With organizations’ increased focus on mobility and wireless, there’s been a lot of talk in the industry about a new position – CMO – or Chief Mobility Officer (not to be confused with Chief Marketing Officer). Corporate board members of larger organizations are recognizing the need to strategically consider how their enterprises think about mobility.

Analysts including Gerry Purdy of MobileTrax LLC and Emily Green of Yankee Group have been writing about this very topic. Both believe that, with these transitions, mobility is becoming a strategic issue for businesses, and we’ll begin to see the rise of CMOs in large organizations.

CMO responsibilities would include the strategic management and implementation of mobile devices, in addition to consumers’ mobile interaction with businesses. Large companies are beginning to create mobile experiences for their customers. IT departments are now faced with the management of software and services that allow customers to access companies’ resources. These applications give wireless customers the ability to purchase products and services or make financial transactions via a smartphone or other device.

With these added responsibilities, the CMO will sit with the CEO to strategize how to use mobility to benefit the company at all levels of the organization.

However, not all analysts believe in the necessity of a C-level position to address the rise of mobility in organizations. In a Computerworld article, Ken Dulaney of Gartner said, “I don’t think organizations want to add more management layers like a CMO [in these] economic times, but mobility needs to be an adjective on every IT noun today. Every part of the IT infrastructure team has to be aware of mobile, just like they have to be aware of things like green technology.”

Whatever route organizations ultimately take, it is clear mobility will play an increasing role in businesses and that conversations surrounding the impact of mobile devices will begin taking place at a higher level.

Does your organization currently have or plan to institute a Chief Mobility Officer? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

According to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), 90% of weather-related outages are caused by trees hitting power lines, making vegetation management an integral part of any utility’s business. In the last three to four years, FERC has introduced additional regulations; one stating that by 2012, utilities should supply 95% of all customers with absolute, uninterrupted power 99.999% of the time.

These regulations show a need for innovation within the utility sector and a greater call for vegetation management. To address this issue, we partnered on a presentation at DistribuTECH with vegetation management specialist Henry King of ArborMetrics Solutions Company Inc.  ArborMetrics has deployed convertible tablet Toughbook 19s to its mobile workforce which operates in 12 states, often in remote forests locations only accessible on foot.

During our presentation, “Automating Vegetation Management,” we discussed the value of rugged mobile computers to the utility workforce, focusing on how connectivity can provide field employees with the latest work orders and information, thus maximizing worker productivity. Additionally, Henry discussed the challenges and benefits of transitioning his workforce from pen and paper to a wireless mobile computing solution.

The deployment surpassed the company’s goals and has now become a benchmark for other initiatives with parent company, Asplundh Tree Expert Co. Some of these topics are addressed in a video case study we recently developed, which can be found here.

For more insight on our offerings in the Utilities market, click on this link.

Did you attend DistribuTECH? If so, let us know your thoughts below.

Make no mistake: IT has a wide array of issues and challenges to contend with when it comes to keeping its organizations productive and safe with minimal technology downtime. However, how many times have you heard someone say they felt strangled by the technology noose around their neck? Gary Hemel of the Wall Street Journal Management 2.0 blog published an interesting post on the topic last November that posed the critical question: “Do IT staffers really believe that conscientious, committed employees turn into crazed, malicious hackers when you give them a bit of freedom over their IT environment?”

This question surfaced again earlier this month after we came across Jennifer Bélissent’s post that discussed her enthusiasm and excitement over her brand new Toughbook laptop though she hasn’t yet been allowed to use it to its fullest.  It’s a great example of a credible user (Jennifer is a respected analyst with Forrester Research) who is patiently waiting for IT to flip the switch.

Organizations are finding that when people are given technology that is purpose-built for their jobs, they’re better able to perform those jobs. PCSC president, Rance Poehler recently addressed this topic, as well as the need for more flexibility in device selection, as a means to drive real efficiencies and cost savings within organizations.

A recent IDC Worldwide Mobile Worker Population Forecast found that nearly 75 percent of the U.S. workforce will perform jobs outside the traditional office space by the end of 2011. What’s more, there are a growing number of organizations allowing employees to use their own personal notebooks. A recent survey from Gartner cited that 43 percent of respondents have specific policies that allow the use of employee-owned devices. With the majority of our workforce being mobile and many of them using their own personal equipment, IT professionals will necessarily move away from strict standardization and towards an era where device selection is tied to the workflow, needs and environments of their end users.

The shift away from a sole-sourced corporate standard is already happening. We applaud those organizations that are helping to change that mindset.

These communication professionals depend on Panasonic’s Toughbook mobile computers to restore and install network service immediately. Rugged Toughbook computers enable crews to get the job done, despite harsh outdoor weather. The high reliability of Toughbook devices allows field technicians, engineers and supervisors to solve problems quickly and efficiently, with little or no downtime.

Our newest addition to the fully-rugged Toughbook line is the U1, an ultra-mobile-rugged PC that is ideal for the communications industry due to its portability and integrated features. You can see our National Sales Manager, Troy Pingree, discuss the U1 and its benefits for the telecom industry in this video interview with TMCNet at SUPERCOMM.

If there is a story you’d like to share about your use of the Toughbook mobile computers, please leave us a comment.