Verizon Wireless plans to strip Android tablets of GMail and other apps and replace with a private app store that customers can use to deploy pre-approved apps.

IT shops everywhere find more of their time gets spent pre-configuring the tablets that people bring to work.  Often, the executives need help getting email set up, security configured correctly and essentially getting them in compliance with corporate IT policies.

According to TabTimes, Verizon Wireless will pre-configure the tablets to the needs of the corporate customer. Verizon’s  “Secure Enterprise Blank Tablet” comes with Android Gingerbread 2.3. Gmail, Android Market, and various apps, functions and other services are locked down. The first tablets will ship in the next few months.

In its place, Verizon offers its private app store with access to the company’s own proprietary apps.

Not all companies want the consumer, media oriented tablets. Healthcare customers may need bar code scanning. Retailers will need card reading. Verizon will offer these value added devices and pair with traditional consulting and integrated packages that may include long-term wireless contracts.

Go to the Verizon Wireless Open Development site and you see how much of a commitment the company is making to tablets. There are standard tablets that people use. But look further and you see tablets with rubber chassis and customized controls.

The tablet is a blank slate. And that means a giant opportunity for companies like Verizon that can provide solutions and integrate with their already established technologies.