Using a tablet as a portable management console

Mobile Manager

Article from ADMIN 07/2012

By Ken Hess

Using a tablet as a portable management console makes sense but could make you too accessible.

With the dozen or so tablet computers on the market, surely you have one by now. If not, you really must buy one. Tablets are not only lightweight, ultra-portable, and capable of performing any remote administrative tasks, but they also give you that freedom that you never had before. But, that freedom that you so desperately seek might also bring along a lengthier chain attached to it. How can you have both freedom and a chain attached? System administrators understand the concept like no other technology professional.

In the "old" days, you carried a pager that tethered you to your workplace. It was lightweight, handy, and relatively inexpensive to deploy and maintain. A needy customer, user, or manager always had you within reach, if needed. And, no matter how far away you fled, somehow the signal could reach you.

During the post-pager revolution (The 1990s), you received a new device that offered two-way communications: The ubiquitous cell phone. The cell phone could not only initiate and receive voice messages but text messages as well. The chain tightened just a bit more with that kind of access.

Today, not only is your cell phone your constant companion, it's capable of voice, text, video, email with attachments, and applications to connect you to your corporate environment from almost anywhere.

Still, it's not enough. A phone is limited in size and usability for complex tasks. But, there's a solution: A tablet computer.

The tablet computer is the new portable sweat shop. You're chained to the job. You're available 24/7x365 with a device that can deliver what you need for almost as long as you need it with no wired tethers. You are free to roam about as long as you either have a WiFi or cellular connection within reach of your location. And, these days, that's available almost anywhere you go.