Intel LogoThere is little doubt that Ultrabook™ devices and tablets are key drivers for the BYOD or Bring Your Own Devices trend. Unfortunately, it may not be evident to some businesses how these devices can be effectively leveraged in their organizations.

With this in mind, I outline a trio of practical ways that Ultrabook™ devices and tablets can be deployed.

Ultrabook™ devices as main work machines

Though desktops are still required in situations where greater computing and graphic processing capabilities are needed, there is little doubt that laptops are the more popular option today. On this front, businesses may want to consider purchasing Ultrabook™ computers over “traditional” laptops as primary work machines for their employees in order to take advantage of the various advances incorporated into them.

For one, Ultrabook™ devices are generally powered by Intel® Core™ processors for excellent battery life without compromising on its performance. Moreover, standards defined by Intel® mean that Ultrabook™ devices are also lightweight and slim despite the full complement of interface ports found in most of them. In addition, Intel® has promised that the next-gen Haswell processor due in September will bring all-day computing to Ultrabook™ computers.

Tablets for ultraportable access

One of the original premises of tablets when they were first made available was the ability for workers to access work documents and other reference materials from a highly portable device. Unfortunately, users soon discovered that they have to jump through multiple hoops just to view files such as Word documents and Excel spreadsheets. Indeed, certain formats such as Access databases and PowerPoint slides are not accessible due to the lack of suitable viewers.

The availability of tablets such as the Dell Latitude 10, featuring Intel® Atom™ processor Z2760, renders such problems a thing of the past. This is due to the tablet’s ability to run the same PC applications as on a desktop or laptop. With their ability to offer half a dozen hours or more of runtime, tablets effectively allow workers and executives to access the same information right from an affordable tablet.

Kiosk access terminal

One possible use for tablets is to serve as an access terminal for workers that may not require a dedicated PC for their work, doing away with the need to deploy expensive laptops or clunky desktop machines. Businesses that will benefit the most from this are likely to be hospitality and service related industries such as hotels and retail outlets.

Workers in this instance can use the tablets to access e-mail messages and other internal business applications. Examples of work-related usage include human resource centric apps to apply for a day off, check duty shifts, or look up pending instructions from their supervisors or teammates. Depending on the expected frequency of access and number of work shifts, a single tablet “kiosk” may easily serve 10 to 20 workers. The touch screen keyboards on the tablets serve to eliminate the need for separate keyboards, helping to keep the footprint of the devices small.

This is a paid post in conjunction with IDG, Dell and Intel ®