Anyone who thought the tablet computer was going to be a consumer-only phenomenon was wrong. Indeed, accountancy firm Deloitte estimates that 25% of the 50 million tablet sales forecast for 2011 will be for enterprise usage. And analyst group Gartner is predicting that, by 2013, 80% of businesses will support tablets in their workforce.

While demand will still be dwarfed by the 390 million PC shipments forecast for 2011, it is nonetheless clear that CIOs are having to bend to employees’ demands for the newly fashionable form factor.

Although the advantages of equipping mobile employees with such devices are clear — their business uses range from go-anywhere sales terminals to easily portable videoconferencing equipment — there are still downsides to consider.

For example: the fact that, for most users, tablets are unlikely to replace either laptops or smartphones will lead to inflated hardware and support costs; many employees who do not get their hands on an enterprise-managed device will end up connecting their own to their organization’s network, thus increasing security worries; and productivity issues may arise as most tablets on the market — such as Apple’s iPad — are primarily geared up as consumption, rather than creation, devices.

Such concerns, combined with strong demand, has cleared the way for a new kind of market entrant: the “enterprise-ready” tablet, such as RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook and Fujitsu’s STYLISTIC Q550 (see picture, above). The latter, for example, sidesteps many PC-compatibility issues by running Windows 7, and facilitates data-entry by combining a multiple-touch interface with pressure-sensitive pen input.