My name is Andrew Scott Reid. As a Product Manager for Business Mobile Internet and Tablets at TELUS, I have an opportunity to use various tablets in my day-to-day. The last few weeks we’ve discussed tablets and the opportunities they present based on your business needs.  This week we will look at how to get (and keep) your tablets connected, and managing the security concerns when deploying tablets in your business.

Wi-Fi or 4G?

As we’ve discussed, tablets are mobile computers. While not entirely laptop replacements they are predominantly used with applications (apps).  Most apps used on a tablet require connectivity (Internet access) to sync in with a server, download fresh content, or allow access to a multiuser environment (such as GoToMeeting or Twitter).

Choosing the right connectivity can also mean looking at the potential revenue or productivity increase to your business by enabling more to be done outside the office.  For example, a company that deploys tablets to its field staff could enable real time scheduling of emergency jobs, enable estimates and payment from the field and reduce administration work by having forms filled out digitally and sent right into a back end system.  That company could easily see an increase in productivity resulting in more jobs completed each week.

Tablets offer two types of connectivity, each with its own benefits and drawbacks.  A cellular or 4G connection is enabled by a SIM card in the tablet, while the Wi-Fi enabled tablet provides the ability to connect with nearby hotspots for internet access.

So how do you decide which tablet connectivity fits your business? As with each element we’ve evaluated in building a tablet strategy, it starts by understanding the business needs.  The two common questions to ask are:

• How will the tablets be used outside the office? Will they be used to capture information, pictures or use apps that should be updated in real-time or can updates be done on a more ad-hoc basis?  If the business needs real-time updates, an “always on” connection like cellular may be the best option, while Wi-Fi allows for more irregular or ad-hoc updates.
• Which tablet fits the budget? Wi-Fi only tablets are typically less expensive hardware than 4G tablets, but need to be paired with a Wi-Fi hotspot (cafes, hotels), Mobile Wi-Fi device or smartphone that can create a Wi-Fi hotspot.  While 4G tablets can be more expensive upfront, they can offer more piece of mind with set monthly rate plans a business can budget for each month.

Mitigating mobile security risk: Getting it right from the start

Of course enabling all that access to tablets in the field can pose some security risks.  Security is a very complex and dynamic topic, unique to the needs and operations of every business, both large and small.  There some basic elements you can evaluate though to help identify risks and address them when deploying tablets? These fall into four key areas of vulnerability your business should consider.

• Theft and loss: Theft and loss are two of the common security risks from a user perspective, and they can be mitigated by device features such as a password enabled screen lock or password lock on certain applications. Although it’s an area to consider when planning a tablet roll out, it should have minimal impact on your device selection. Tablets have various software that can be loaded on a desktop or laptop to help back up the device as a precaution.
• Access control: Access control is the ability someone can have to access the device or information and apps contained on it as well as access your IT team or a backend system can have to help control it.  The common risks associated with access control are email and web browsing.  Managing access control can be as simple as ensuring users have the device password protected and enabling remote wipe features available with some tablets through their supporting desktop software.  More advanced access control to limit which sites can be browsed is offered by 3rd party applications such as Juniper Networks.
• Application and data: Building on access control, further application and data risks come from spyware and viruses.  While more common on laptops than tablets, the market has begun to see threats of these types permeating into Android devices and onto tablets.  Protecting applications and data can be addressed through on device applications for anti-virus/spyware and can also be addressed through 3rd party applications as ones we mention above.
• Network: Network security relates to how a business wants their information transmitted across the wireless network and what access they want to give tablets. Restricting wireless network access can be as simple as creating a closed user group or as complex as enabling a service such as TELUS Secure IP Anywhere. These levels on security and restrictions on how much access a device can have to the wireless network are offered by carriers typically as features that a business can ask to have enabled.

While these are just the basic elements, further understanding of the current IT threats in market and the common ways they are being addressed can help alleviate some of these concerns and increase your businesses comfort level deploying tablets.  See our IT Security series for more information.

Do you have a question about creating a tablet strategy for your business?  Leave a comment below, I’d like to hear from you.  I will be using the last post in the series to answer common questions that I hear from you and our customers on creating a tablet strategy for their business.

Andrew Scott Reid is a product manager for business Mobile Internet and Tablets at TELUS and consults with business clients on a regular basis, helping them establish the right mobile tablet strategy for their business.  Follow Scott on twitter: @andrewscottreid

Today is the 6th post in the "Work Shift, Work Styles, Work Anywhere – Flexible Work across Canada" summer blog series

As the Editor-in-Chief of Techvibes.com, a hyper-local Canadian technology blog, I meet with (and get pitched by) plenty of tech startups every week. These meetings tend to take place in coffee shops and cafes throughout downtown Vancouver and usually include a laptop or an iPad.

With over 300 Starbucks locations in Vancouver's lower mainland (and two kitty-corner on Robson Street), you'd think that I'd end up in the Seattle-born chain more often than anywhere else especially since they offer free Wi-Fi access. Not the case though. I find myself taking most of my meetings at a Vancouver-based coffee chain that prides itself in NOT offering complimentary Wi-Fi.

JJ Bean Coffee Roasters just opened it's 10th location and they're giving the big chains a run for the money in Vancouver. JJ Bean's Yaletown location is at the corner of Homer & Davie street and accessing the Web on the fly isn't a problem for me thanks to my trusty Mobile Internet Key.

With my latte set next to my MacBook, "pitches" turn into blog posts on the fly and I usually find myself diving into my regular daily activities before closing my laptop and heading back to the office.

At Techvibes, we do everything on the web - our email runs on Google Apps and we track our web stats with Google Analytics. We tweet all of our blog posts to the world and communicate internally with Yammer. We track customers on Salesforce, invoice them with FreshBooks, and then check our bank balances online.

As I type this blog post from my favourite coffee shop at summer's end on September 1st, I wonder if I'll be feeling so mobile when Vancouver's wet weather hits. Just in case I retreat to my office this Fall, come on by and say Hi at JJ Bean today. I'll be here from 11:00a.m. until noon PT and have some sweet swag for the first few to find me.

About the Author: Rob Lewis, TechVibes.com President and Editor-in-Chief and Guest Contributor

Rob is the President of Techvibes Media and Editor-in-Chief of Techvibes.com.  His diverse background includes stints in International Trade Finance, Web Development, and Enterprise Software and he is a graduate of the University of British Columbia, British Columbia Institute of Technology, and Simon Fraser University.