A recently released survey from The Business Journals once again proves the trend of consumerization of IT isn’t fading anytime soon. Apparently, more and more employees are leaving laptops at home as tablets become more versatile. The survey conducted was completed by “bosses” of small-businesses companies (those with between five and 499 employees). Read on for some results and some channel analysis …

The survey consisted of 2,223 bosses, and took place November 2010 to January 2011. Small and midsized business owners were asked some detailed questions regarding tech habits inside their companies. The results were revealing:

  • 9 percent of businesses were already using iPads
  • 79 percent of small- and midsize-business owners used a desktop computer, down from 83 percent in 2010
  • 16 percent used a netbook or notebook, down from 21 percent
  • 60 percent used a laptop, down from 65 percent
  • 37 percent used a smartphone or PDA, up from 27 percent
  • 31 percent were using mobile applications on smartphones, cell phones or tablet computers (a category that wasn’t even measured the previous year)

The survey results point to a few game-changers: the decline in desktop computing, the decline in laptop and netbook computing and the surge in smartphone usage, as well as increasing mobile application usage. And like a lot of these surveys, the results actually have less to do with the iPad and more to do with a shift in what computing means for businesses. Mobility has superseded traditional platform proliferation. Services have superseded traditional software suites. Nowadays, it’s about enabling the customer to access their data in a way that’s both meaningful and useful to them.

But these results also aren’t saying every VAR needs to start selling iPads and tablets to be successful. VARs actually have a clearer path to success by focusing on the data-center products and services that essentially ‘future-proof’ a customer’s network for the impending shift to more mobile devices. As more employees use these devices, the demand for them will naturally rise. Partners then can step in with programs like Tech Data’s ActivateIT, or even offer mobile-based products like Mitel’s UC Android solutions.

The future is undoubtedly mobile, but it’s all for naught without a solid backbone. Think of this survey as a call to action for networking and storage VARs to gear up and add some value to new and existing customers alike. There’s plenty of potential still in the channel.

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