Another issue Festo must handle is peripherals - which projectors, bar code scanners and external monitors will work with the tablet. Employees own more than one mobile device and not all of them work with the same peripherals.

"One of our biggest things we're targeting right now is voice over IP and video-conferencing capabilities," he said. "Let's say I have everything stored in the VDI. Fine. But what if I want to use the video capabilities for it. Is it going to use the one in my camera or is it going to try to connect to the thin client? I don't want to carry around separate devices."

Hinchliffe noted that there are now more than 400 social networks with one million or more users each. So the need for internal social networks to open up corporate communication and employee collaboration should be a top priority.

For example, Hinchliffe pointed to British clothier Burberry and its CEO, Angela Ahrendts, who recently said her company's supply chain was aging and inadequate. Burberry is now embracing social networking to connect the supply chain, drive sales and build the brand. The company has received millions of hits on its social networking site.

"She said, 'We'll be fundamentally a social networking business. We'll connect the customer and suppliers together," Hinchliffe said. "They've seen a 21% increase to their bottom line."