Most Common Tablet Mistakes

American Airlines was an early adopter of tablet computers. As a result, it learned a lot about how best to use tablets—and where it could go wrong.

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The airline, for instance, figured out early that one device would not fit all. The pilots wanted high-end tablets, to replace paper charts and such, while mechanics and engineers needed something more rugged. For flight attendants, small and light were key. Meanwhile, to its first- and business-class passengers, the airline lent models that played new movies without risk of illegal copying.

"When you're in a conference room, you might think, 'This is great,' " says Maya Leibman, chief information officer for American, owned by AMR Corp., about the airline's effort to choose models that worked for everyone. "But then you get out in the field and realize it doesn't work in a driving snowstorm."

Companies everywhere are adopting tablets. Forrester Research Inc. estimates that about 25% of computers used for work globally are tablets and smartphones, not PCs.

But in the process, companies are making a lot of the same mistakes—from not researching ahead of time how workers can best use the devices, to underestimating the costs and the additional challenges tablets present for IT networks.

Here's a rundown of five of the biggest mistakes, and what companies have learned from them.

No. 1: Failing to have a plan before rolling out the devices

Too many companies start using tablets without a clear strategy.

American Airlines

TO EACH HIS OWN American Airlines quickly discovered that one device wouldn't suit all needs.

"There are organizations that throw caution to the wind and say, 'We need tablets,' then buy 20,000, push them out and wait for people to tell them how they're using them," says Chris Curran, a principal at PricewaterhouseCoopers overseeing technology strategy and innovation. This is wasting money and causing lots of frustration, he says.

Analysts advise putting tablets in the hands of small but key groups of employees before attempting a wide deployment. Let them see what works and what can be done better.

Policy issues should be ironed out ahead of time, too, like who will own the devices and how they will be managed.

"You can't just say, 'Here's a tablet, go forth,' without a plan of attack," Mr. Curran says.

No. 2: Not understanding what tablets are—and are not—good for

Tablets have a lot of capabilities, but they're not right for everything and can't yet replace notebooks for many uses. Many traditional computer programs won't work on tablets, and documents sent from a computer to a mobile device may end up losing some key characteristics.

Apple

CATCHING UP At Hyatt Hotels, management found it needed better tools to manage mobile devices.

"If you send someone files from their desktop infrastructure, there's no guarantee everything in those files will be presented to the end user correctly," says Ken Dulaney, an analyst at Gartner Inc., an IT research and consulting firm based in Stamford, Conn. "And an application that sits on the device might not show them there's something missing."

Some companies try to get around this by using virtual desktop applications, Web-based programs that give users remote access to their PC desktop, but those also don't always translate well to the smaller screen. Hyatt Hotels Corp. says some of its employees with tablets work with such an app but sometimes can't navigate all of the programs without a mouse or keyboard. In addition, most PC programs are designed for larger monitors, making it difficult to read them properly on a smaller screen.

John Prusnick, director of IT innovation and strategy for Hyatt, says the company is considering changing some of its PC applications to make them more tablet-friendly.

No. 3: Expecting to easily obtain all the apps you need

Some companies think it will be easy to obtain the right apps for their needs. But most companies don't have the means to produce and constantly update mobile applications for themselves. And while iPad and Android app stores have many more offerings than the stores of less popular tablets, even those have limitations.

Apple

MAKING IT WORK At Jackson Kayak, it took some time to find the right mobile apps for certain needs.

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