Resistance is Futile: Potential Data Loss Risks Aside, Apple iPad 2 Looks Like a Great Computing Device

As expected, our friends at Apple unveiled the iPad 2 today... and with it, tablets are starting to look like really serious computing devices. (Check out Engadget's coverage of today's launch for some examples and the basic facts on this new device.)

Expect Apple's latest volley in the tablet computing wars to once again accellerate the "consumerization of IT" in your enterprise. (For examples of enterprise iPad adoption and a little discussion of the potential risks, see USA Today's "More companies put iPads to Work", where our own Gary Steele is quoted.)

As we're seeing with social media tools, tablets and other mobile computing devices represent technologies that enterprise IT departments need to come to grips with, using a combination of policy and technology.

So, I wanted to use this event as a reminder that, if you haven't revisited your organization's remote access/mobile devices and storage policy lately, perhaps its time to do so. (And our 2010 research on this topic - see pages 13-15 of our Outbound Email and Data Loss Prevention in Today's Enterprise report - shows that nearly 10% of large organizations haven't formalized such policies.)

Of course, devices like the iPad 2 can be extremely useful for enterprise IT and security professionals with more and more vendors providing mobile apps that help with administration, monitoring and other features of enterprise software products.

Proofpoint, for example, currently offers the Proofpoint Mobile Dashboard app for iOS devices that lets Proofpoint Enterprise admins view status of their Proofpoint deployments, track support inquiries, etc. (Follow the previous link or search the iTunes store to get your copy - it's free!)

And not to get all Steve Jobs on you, but watch this space for more Proofpoint mobile-related news in near future... Me, I gotta get over to the Apple store and order a new iPad...