There’s a rise in the number of manufacturers ready to take a stance against the Apple iPad. The business arena is one area of interest some, such as Cisco, are hoping to get a leg up on the current standard of tablets, with several other device makers not too far behind. This means that the business sector is going to be getting a lot of gadgets thrown its way in the near future, and Apple will need to stay on its toes to ward off competition.

The development of the tablet industry, while thankful to Apple, is also looking to beat the company at its own game. As Apple grows its focus beyond entertainment, the enterprise and SMB sectors are important areas to target for broadened distribution. So far, Apple is taking measures to encroach on BlackBerry’s turf with the iPhone 4 and campaigns to target business users. Cisco, HP and others would love to take a similar approach to Apple itself.

Between cloud-computing and mobile access to consumers, the growing interest around tablets means big opportunities for developers and tablet manufacturers. Cisco has bundled a number of products and services in its Cius tablet, making it more appealing for certain industries, such as healthcare. The number of business and productivity apps being created for the iPad is growing, and Cisco’s executive game of musical chairs indicates the company’s interest in business development. From ComputerWorld,

The Cius has a lot going for it, particularly in the enterprise space. With millions of iPad sales within a few months, Apple is generally considered a consumer company, and many CIOs are hesitant to use Apple products because the company offers no enterprise road map, whereas other vendors do (though it does offer enterprise services). Therefore, a competing tablet with similar capabilities from a trusted vendor is going to be attractive to CIOs.

Many government branches are also turning to mobile apps, and while they’re consumer-facing apps, they also cover a number of business-centric interests, also acting as a business initiative for themselves.

Beyond this, several other manufacturers are still seeking the best in-move for their business mobile initiatives. HP has gotten started on its own tablet goals, with revived plans to incorporate its acquisition of Palm. PCWorld notes the missed opportunity for Microsoft, though it seems the software provider has a number of widespread plans for remaining relevant in the burgeoning tablet industry.

Both HP and Microsoft have the potential to make a huge appeal with tablets on an enterprise level, particularly as the iPad’s first generation easily serves as a template for what the next tablet (business- or enterprise-centric) should have, especially when it comes to security. As businesses find more uses around mobile devices, and manufacturers and developers seek more outreach around tablets and the like, Microsoft still has a number of opportunities to convert its existing PC presence. This is something companies like Microsoft have been aiming for since smart phones first came about, but the expected growth around tablets is something of an enterprise revival.