Unless a business is adopting tablets wholesale, these links to proprietary platforms are important to the success of these two devices. The only other way tablets can gain headway is by replacing some other device such as desktops or phones, Davis says.

He notes that when Avaya's Desktop Video Device was announced last year, the company said it would consider making it available for other hardware devices including iPads, something Cisco has not embraced. "That makes it different," he says. "Flare could be just another piece of software running on a tablet. If you weren't doing it for the communication, you'd opt for an iPad or a Samsung Galaxy [tablet]."

Cius and Desktop Video Device are unique among tablets, in that they are built to run specific business communication software. "I'm surprised Avaya went that way," he says.

Supporting and developing hardware is a big undertaking and not directly in keeping with the company's self depiction as a software vendor. The choice for Cisco is not as surprising in that Cius can be docked in a desktop phone to make it a video phone.

Other communications vendors such as Siemens and ShoreTel may benefit from Avaya and Cisco testing the tablet waters for them. If they take off, other vendors might create software that could run on more generic tablets to keep up, he says.