• by Steve Smith , Staff Writer @popeyesm, February 15, 2012

You see more and more folks at business meetings and conferences relying wholly on their tablets instead of the once-ubiquitous l-shaped laptop. And NPD In-Stat conforms in its latest consumer survey that more and more people are bringing their own tablets to work and using them increasingly in the enterprise. Well -- let's hope the enterprise lets them. 

Less than half of the respondents to the survey said their companies let them onto the corporate network with their devices. And overwhelmingly, tablet use in the workplace means buy and bring your own. Only 22% in the poll said their companies had footed the bill.

As a productivity tool, tablet owners in business are using the gadget for email most of all, with 77% saying that reading their messages is the most common tablet use case. But note-taking has emerged as the second-most common use of the touchscreen, although when asked to rank uses, the respondents put this function toward the end of the list.

The emergence of tablets in business use raises an interesting challenge and opportunity for business information providers and b2b marketers in particular. According to the business segment, b2bs may need to pay closer attention to their multi-screen strategy. Most b2b marketing is just barely catching up to the smartphone revolution, but soon enough they too will have to speak to a screen-agnostic world. From editors to developers to graphic designers, everyone must begin thinking about content in responsive contexts.

NPD metrics suggest that targeting the business tablet user may require more than just an awareness of the device -- also the context. There is a strong correlation between 3G-enabled tablets and business use/travel, for instance. Enterprise app developers and b2b marketers who do embrace the platform will also have to consider a more variable bandwidth setting once the tablet leaves its customary consumer haunt, the family WiFi network.

This is the persistent lesson of mobility. For years, Web developers could rely on that one screen being on a desk. Time of day could be a proxy for context. Once the PC becomes connected but untethered, context is a consistent variable.