Applications | Office Applications - News, Features, and Slideshows

An events-planning business moves from a time-consuming, manual process for creating documents to one that uses HP Relate templates.

Medical technology moves at warp speed, and trying to wring back-office benefits from the latest gadgets can be tricky in a field governed by strict privacy regulations.

I recently met with rock star CIOs at a conference focused on enterprise mobility. Here's a snapshot of what I learned:

1. It's time to say goodbye to Entourage. Outlook has finally arrived for Mac users. The good news: It's easier to send files and calendar invites through Exchange. The bad news: It won't sync with iCal or allow side-by-side calendars. New features include public folders, category syncing and Social Connector, which imports LinkedIn contacts and status updates from Facebook. Reed Sheard, VP and CIO at Westmont College, thinks that, overall, "if it works as advertised, it will save time on the support side."

It's in demand. As mobile devices become more capable, users want the ability to print from them. Imagine an executive visiting a remote branch office and getting e-mailed a PDF of an important document to review. Which do you think he'd rather do: Ruin his eyes trying to read it on his 3-inch BlackBerry screen? Or send it to the nearest multifunction printer? Mobile devices are everywhere, and users increasingly expect to have the option to print when it's convenient.

It's hard to overstate the impact of the Microsoft Office for iPad. The arrival of the dominant productivity suite on the dominant tablet promises to change how iPads are viewed in the enterprise. Office for iPad may also crush competitive apps, shut out Cloud storage providers and limit MDM vendors.