AT&T’s PlayBook: Sell Apple’s iPad directly to businesses of all sizes

AT&T announced today that the company will sell all three iPad Wi-Fi + 3G models directly to business customers as part of an initiative to help companies increase productivity and flexibility. AT&T will offer attractive post-paid mobile broadband price plans for the iPad which will be available through AT&T business account representatives beginning Thursday, October 28. This new offer is available for customers whose AT&T wireless bills are paid for by their employer.

“iPad is a great fit for our enterprise customers across a wide range of industries who are looking for ways to increase business productivity and offer greater flexibility,” said Michael Antieri, President, Advanced Enterprise Mobility Solutions, AT&T Business Solutions, in the press release. “This new offer further strengthens AT&T’s commitment to provide businesses with the tools they need to accelerate mobility-led productivity.”

“We are getting many requests for help on iPad strategies for the enterprise,” writes Ted Schadler, vice president, principal analyst, Forrester Research, Inc. in the July 2010 Forrester blog posting, How Are You Using iPad For Business?. “iPads are a tremendously empowering technology that any employee can buy.”

Today’s announcement is the newest offer from AT&T’s Advanced Enterprise Mobility Solutions Group, which is focused on helping to enable business model transformation through mobile applications, machine-to-machine solutions and mobile services. The group complements AT&T’s Emerging Devices Organization which focuses on wirelessly enabling devices for consumers.

iPad will be available for corporate purchase with a corporate service subscription from AT&T.

Source: AT&T Inc.

MacDailyNews Take: RIM’s hating life. The good news is that their hate won’t last long.

[Attribution: MacNN. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Jax44” for the heads up.]