1200 enterprise professionals surveyed

A new survey from BoxTone Mobile Service Management of top executives and IT professionals at more than 800 enterprise-level businesses show that corporate adoption of the iPad is growing rapidly, with almost three-quarters expecting to incorporate the Apple device into their organizations over the next year and a quarter rolling them out immediately. Even companies that have already begun to introduce iPads into the business expect additional adoption, the survey finds.

Over the course of last month, BoxTone -- a company that sell software for managing corporate deployments of smartphone and tablet software -- ran interactive polls with 1200 IT professionals and management executives from Fortune 500 companies. Thirty-five percent of the IT respondents were with architecture or engineering firms, 25 percent from security or compliance companies, and 20 percent handling operations or service desks for large-scale enterprises.

Of these, 73 percent expect to deploy the iPad and other iOS devices within the coming 12 months, with about a quarter saying deployments were underway or starting immediately. More than half plan to deploy at least one iPad application, with a quarter expecting at least three applications to be used with their enterprise. Forty percent of those surveyed anticipate that existing iPad deployments will grow by 20 percent or more over the next year.

Respondents cited factors such as the user experience, form factor and value as an application and information delivery platform as reasons for the iPad's unusually quick adoption at the top levels of management. The forthcoming release of iOS 4.2 and its enterprise-grade management capabilities was another factor in overcoming traditional corporate conservatism, particularly with Apple products.

Device management topped the list of concerns, with 87 percent citing secure configuration and deployment as their top priority. Forty-four percent said that bringing their support structures up-to-date with the devices was a major initiative for their companies.

A slideshow summarizing the full results of BoxTone's survey can be found on their web site.

by MacNN Staff