© 2009 VDC Research Group, Inc.
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Highly mobile workers operating outside
of the carpeted office space who
support applications deemed mission
critical to business operations should
consider some level of a rugged device.
Advancements in the technology around ruggedness have led to the creation of
smaller, lighter devices. In addition, today’s offerings incorporate most of the current
standards-based components and frequently lead with the integration of next
generation functionality such as wireless communications. Finally, recognizing the
limitations of two defined categories of commercial-grade and rugged, vendors have
expanded the levels of ruggedness to map better to various workforce requirements.
Categories now include:
•
Commercial-grade:
The most common type of enterprise notebook,
commercial-grade, indicates no official rugged specifications. Commercial-grade
notebooks provide levels of consistency and support that consumer grade
devices do not strive to match. The production of these units is usually
outsourced to an OEM to keep costs low.
•
Business Rugged:
These notebooks generally feature no official specifications
(although some do map to existing standards for rugged notebooks), but in
recognition of the increasing importance of durability, vendors have created
solutions with specialized/metal casing, shock-mounted hard drives, spill-proof
keyboards, other reinforcements to protect against drops and spills and
integrated mobile broadband radios. The result is a blended platform that
features a premium price point that can survive semi-hazardous, non-carpeted
environments.
•
Semi-Rugged:
The traditional semi-rugged notebook is not designed for use in
severe conditions but features some of the reinforcements of ruggedness such
as metal casing, spill resistance and sealed ports, daylight viewing technology,
and shock absorption reinforcement such as rubberized bumpers and internal
dampers.
•
Fully Rugged:
Created for the most hazardous environments, these notebooks
feature a specification of IP-54 or greater, comply with relevant MIL-STD-810F
environmental tests and are constructed with the most sophisticated
technologies for antenna pass-throughs, casing and reinforcements. These
systems are often UL-1604 certified, allowing them to be used in hazardous
environments such as oil and gas. A sub category of fully rugged is ultra-rugged
computers (at least IP-64, fully sealed with MIL-STD-461E specification).
Frankly, a majority of office bound users are served best by the commercial-grade
device. Yet, segments of the enterprise space could experience cost savings by
adopting a higher degree of ruggedness. Highly mobile workers operating outside of
the carpeted office space who support applications deemed mission critical to
business operations should consider some level of a rugged device. A TCO analysis,
conducted to properly account for the operational costs of mobile computing, can
help quantify the cost benefits.
