Post recession: Large company computer needs

One trend that was similar among nearly all companies during the economic recession was a reluctance to spend heavily on technology.

Now, the recession has ended and budgets are beginning to return to their pre-recession levels. Combined with the technology innovations that have emerged in the meantime, this development is forcing business owners to make decisions they have never faced.

Two new technologies -- tablets and cloud computing -- are largely responsible for this. Earlier in the decade, the introduction of the BlackBerry smartphone put the power of a work computer into the hands of employees, sparking the idea of mobile computing. Now, tablets have not only improved on the computing power available to mobile employees, they have done so with a larger screen.

Add in the potential to store all enterprise information and applications on the cloud, and tablets present a sort of wild card to the decision-making process for those looking to purchase work computers.

For business leaders, this is a good problem to have. Now, they can keep costs low by purchasing tablets for employees who only need access to a computer while on the go, but don't necessarily need a keyboard. At the same time, those who need a keyboard but travel often may do well with netbooks or laptops, and those who never leave the office and have high storage needs can use desktop PCs.

New capabilities have changed the game for enterprise computers, and they will only make it more competitive as technology continues to evolve.