Comments on: Businesses warming up to the iPhone

The original iPhone was not welcome in corporate America. While the BlackBerry still rules the boardroom, the second-generation iPhone is getting a fresh look.

[ibeetle]

I read a great post somewhere. It was completely true. It said (best to my recall):

Three months ago we got a eMail from IT; Absolutely no iPhones on the network.

Two months ago we got a eMail from IT; iPhones are allowed, but you are on your own for support.
-- Turns out the assistant head to IT got a iPhone.

This month we got another eMail from IT; iPhones now have complete and total access to the entire network with full and complete support from IT.
-- Turns out the CEO got a iPhone.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Time to find a new job if a CEO can totally disregard all security practices by putting an unsecured device on the company network. Ouch.

[Penguinisto]

Dunno how to tell you this Dan, but Blackberries are equally unsecurable, as is any smartphone.

IOW: Security-wise, they are about the same.

Also, the CEO has the perfect right to do as he or she wishes... it sucks sometimes, but in this particular case no harm done.

[Fil0403]

Dunno how to tell you this Peng, but, as indirectly stated in the article (which you probably didn't even read, in your rush to reply comments from people who, in their perfect and savvy right, don't exactly share your fantasy-positive opinion of the iPhone), BlackBerries are more secure than iPhones, as are most smartphones.

IOW: Security-wise, iPhone is worse.

Also, the "person" has the perfect right to comment as he or she wishes... It does sucks sometimes (as it probably does for this CEO's company - security-wise, at least), but in this case it's no problem, since most CEO's are smart enough to choose a BlackBerry or Windows Mobile smartphone over an iPhone.

[aMUSICsite]

The other BIG drawback from a business point of view is the inability to forward on any contact details.
Most business users need the ability to take contact details from the address book, emails and text messages and forward them on to other people. Until Apple address this huge flaw in the software it won't break into the business market.

[Thomas, David]

Address books information, can already be shared. Emails can be forwarded. The only thing I know of is text messages are isolated, and cannot be forwarded to another person.

[johnnykuz]

There are several apps in the app store that allow you to do just that.

No issue.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Security of the address book is a big issue. I work at the Redmond Evil Empire (but not for them, but distinction) and when I hooked up Exchange on the unit I have, it downloaded the address book. The *entire* address book. Now suddenly have nearly 50,000+ entries. Granted, the unit did bring them all down, but it also is a much greater security risk. I had to go back into the configuration and have it remove all address book entries- unfortunately that also removed the ones I wanted to keep. It just became a nightmare of maintenance.

Since there is no security on the device, there's no way I can have company sensitive data on it. If lost, anyone can access all the information on the unit. :/

[cyclelogicpress.com]

How about using remote wipe.

[Penguinisto]

@Dan: This is an Outlook issue in general as well. When you first launch Outlook and give it your credentials (assuming a default installation of Exchange), it sucks down your contact lists... nature of the beast and all that.

You can modify Exchange to not do that, y'know.

/P

[rcrusoe]

Our story is similar to ibeetle's. On the third day after the 1st gen iPhone went on sale our President walked in with one. He had set it up on our corporate email system himself and has not needed any support from us so far. The only change we suggested was moving from imap to push mail after it became available. We emailed him the new email settings in a file created in the iPhone Configuration Utility and he made the update himself.

He "wrote" our iPhone policy that day and several other managers have followed his lead.

[MMC Racing]

Exchange server/ActiveSync support really made the iPhone viable in major corporations. Blackberry's "weakness" is needing a BES server(s) inside their customer's datacenters when the infrastructure for ActiveSync is already in place ( in Exchange shops )..

[gggg sssss]

but BES has more device management capabilities than plain exchange

[Penguinisto]

@MMC Racing: Partially correct. Smaller shops can 'rent' BES wireless sync from their local LDAP or Exchange service/servers, all as part of their cell phone plan.

BES is readily available, and most mid-to-large sized shops already have it. Not much different from needing a license for any other mobile push technology.

@aMUSICsite: you can shovel around vCards right now between iPhones, BBs, and WM handsets.

/P

[Greg_in_Frankfurt]

Corporations may be wary of the potentially higher running costs of iPhone (Telecom's put this device in a higher tariff bracket because of the significantly greater data traffic it puts on the network).

[Jimmygotajobatgoogle]

Gooooo iPhone....anyway, anyone knows why Apple decide to tie the iPhone to a single carrier?

[open-mind]

Why tied to a single carrier? You probably mean only a single carrier in the USA. That's because most US carriers didn't take them seriously, and most were not willing to alter their network to support features like visual voice-mail. AT&T was willing in exchange for an exclusive 5 year contract.

[ajauch]

Two issues:

1) In the US, AT&T won the right to exclusively market and sell the iPhone. You can unlock, but you're stuck with the mandatory contract to get a 3G. This is a marketing decision by Apple. They get kickbacks from the carrier. Exclusive deals mean higher kickbacks.

2) In the US, GSM isn't as all-conquering as in EMEA and other places. Carriers like Verizon are not GSM and those of us who live in places not well served by GSM can't use the iPhone.

Why is iPhone GSM only? Because that is the only way for Apple to make a world phone. Are they going to change that? Probably not real soon. iPhone is already the #1 handset in the US, why would they bother?

A

[P_F_M]

If only you could swap the battery.- or get enough battery life to last a full 12 - 14 hours of heavy usage.

[The_happy_switcher]

There are dozens of companies that offer add devices that double, triple battery power. You aren't looking very hard, apparently.

[cyclelogicpress.com]

Actually the add-on batteries are a slicker solution than opening up one's phone and swapping the battery.

[TogetherinParis]

Apple has a reputation for data integrity that is the envy of the MS Vista world. Deployment of the iPhone to an enterprise improves enterprise efficiency. The iPhone will reduce interface frustration and allow greater utilization of such devices by novices. Deployment of the iPhone should also contribute to the bottom line directly. Employees issued an iPhone by their employer will receive an incentive to stay put and stay loyal. Customers of the enterprise will reward those adopting iPhones with increased good-will.

[Mark_Anderson]

You are kidding, right?

[Vegaman_Dan]

Comparing Exchange on an iPhone versus Exchange on a Blackberry, Windows Mobile... heck, even a Palm Treo is silly. The mail client and capabilities on the iPhone / Touch is exceedingly bare bones and limited. Unfortuantely, Apple will not allow anyone to create a better mail client. All those others I listed have many different clients that can take advantage of Exchange services.

Heck, I can't even set an OOF on my Apple device. I would LOVE to have another mail client to use with Exchange.

Hear me, Apple? Either write a better mail client or let someone else do it. Right now that mail client is the biggest reason NOT to use it.

[mhuffer]

The iphone as a piece of hardware is awesome. The software is still geared more to a consumer not someone who needs a reliable device (power resets to get emails frequently) that you can make more than a couple of adjustments to. For mobile users on the road this phone is nothing but an accident waiting to happen. Poor logic and mac ego will keep me from putting recommending this device to any business user. It seems like the same logic that keeps Macs from being a really useful business computer. I have an iphone that was purchased for testing, the one thing I like about it over the Blackberry is that I don't get the phantom vibration from getting all of my messages or cals. :) I'll be giving it to one of my kids unless they can get it together before I renew for another Blackberry.

[DigitalFrog]

It's really the vanity factor. I have yet to see any real business feature that the iPhone has that isn't already in existing business solutions (RIM, TREO, WinMobile, etc.) What I do see is a lot of unnecessary glitz and toy features features that to me, just don't warrant the costs of changing over from an existing corporate standard that works. For a CEO (ibeetle's comment above) to push a change for no real business return is irresponsible, especially in the current fiscal situation. I see it as the same as switching a company fleet from reliable vehicles that get the job done, to luxury cars just because they're more fun to drive.

[Mark_Anderson]

"There's also the issue that corporations will have to install iTunes on every iPhone user's computer"

Goodbye. No sale. Thanks for coming.

[Penguinisto]

This somehow differs from the idea of having to support Blackberry's desktop sync utilities?

[Vegaman_Dan]

Penguinisto wrote:

"This somehow differs from the idea of having to support Blackberry's desktop sync utilities? "

Greatly. Quictime. iPodServices. iTunesHelper. Safari. MobileMe. These are all apps that get installed onto your system as part of your iTunes installation. Even if you uncheck the update options, they get auto-rechecked the next time updates are sent out. iTunes itself has become so bloated as to be compared to Microsoft. Find me someone who *likes* using iTunes and I'll show you hundreds more who are forced to use it because there isn't anything else out there so they are forced to use it. Look at the vulnerabilities it introduces. You decide to sync an iPhone and now you have to worry about Quicktime video vulnerabilities- a totally unrelated product other than iTunes uses it.

No sir, iTunes brings on its own 'world of hurt' as they say.

[gggg sssss]

poor deluded penguin. Who in the (real) world uses desktop sync? If you have never seen BES, start with looking it up in Wikipedia.

[Penguinisto]

Hey kids -

Safari is optional (or did you forget that part?). The rest are counted as subsystems of iTunes. They show up as different processes (in Windows, not OSX), but are part of the same package (and are updated all at the same time, making support far easier).

PS, Dan: Here's *one* who likes using iTunes. Now get to work on that list of "hundreds". ;)

/P

[Penguinisto]

@ ggg...

You have a choice of desktop or wireless sync, true - but circumstances differ.

Either way, you also get to support the existence of BES - either in your network, or give access to BES services from outside of your network, opening up a potential hole all by itself. This is something you don't have to do with the iPhone or WM.

[Mark_Anderson]

Aside from one being a shop front window you mean?

[Galaxy5]

At least one major corporation here in Silicon Valley has serious plans to move its sales and marketing people from Blackberries to iPhones. I'm not allowed to say which one, though!

[Tom Krazit]

Confidentiality guaranteed.

[The_Decider]

I know several security managers for banks. Not one of them will even consider the notion of allowing an iPhone on their network.

The iPhone is an overpriced and under-featured consumer gadget. It is not for critical networks.

[rcrusoe]

Yep, most banks won't touch it.

http://www.apple.com/webapps/productivity/bankofamericamobilebanking.html

[Penguinisto]

Most banks won't touch Vista, either.

Your point?

[Penguinisto]

@ rcrusoe... not directed @ you :)

[Vegaman_Dan]

The_Decider wrote:

"I know several security managers for banks. Not one of them will even consider the notion of allowing an iPhone on their network."

In any network where security is important with sensitive data, you won't find the iPhone. Not at this time. In the future this may change, but unless the iPhone's OS is redone from scratch with security in mind, then it's not likely to be seen in use. RIM, Windows Mobile, Palm, etc. They have dealt with this enough to work with the enterprise market.

I expect the same market reaction to the Android platform.


rcrusoe wrote:

"Yep, most banks won't touch it."

Correct. And Bank of America is not available in many states (banking prohibitions vary per state). BoA is useless in those states for iPhone apps. A shame too.

Penguinisto wrote:

"Most banks won't touch Vista, either. "

Banks took until after 2002 before they even started migrating from OS2 to XP. Banks are typically very very slow adopters of any OS.

[Penguinisto]

@Dan: yep - banks typically move slower, which was my point.

OTOH, rcrusoe blew apart most of the arguments right there concerning banks and what they will support for their external customers (w/ the BoA iPhone app). Furthermore, I can say with certainty that (most) banks are also among the earlier adopters of supporting customers on alternative OSes and browsers.

[stigmattaman]

I like how there's no real facts in the move to iPhone by enterprises in the story.

[Tom Krazit]

The market share data and interviews with CIOs don't count as facts? What would you define as a fact, then?

[stigmattaman]

You're completely right Tom. I was just being crabby. Love your work.

[jypeterson]

Funny...CIO's look at the iPhone as a toy. Due to its significant impact on the mobile market, even Blackberry is now copying it. What will the CIO's do now that the Blackberry is also a toy???

No cell phone is 100% secure. You have a more likely security breach from an unsecured workstation or loose lipped employees than you do from any properly set up phone, including the iPhone. What it comes down to is the wasted investment in the BES in hardware and software licenses, iTunes on a users' workstation (just block the Store's IP address with your internal firewall), and loosing "control" over your serfdom. It is an amazing piece of hardware which has allowed me to be more efficient in my organization, and I have yet to have yet to make a help desk call regarding my iPhone as opposed to the numerous phone calls about my Blackberry.

Once an iPhone is sync'ed with a PC, you cannont sync it with another without wiping the phone (unless it is jailbroken -- a whole other topic but impossible if your have proper IP filters in place). Whoa! Issue solved! Without access to the iTunes store, you cannot install Apps, even on the go.

The fact is that the iPhone is much more usable than my Blackberry, and I have more access to my files internally than I did with the Blackberry. Fewer calls to the help desk, more efficient, no BES server or licenses, and I didn't pay any more for the iPhone than the latest Blackberry. Isn't that the definition of a cost/benefit analysis?

[Vegaman_Dan]

Well, you can synch with more than one PC without any issue. The libraries will get deleted... unless you have an application on your iPhone that can handle multiple libraries and switch between them (available for both stock and jailbroke units).

The unit runs all apps as root and there is no security against that. Data on the phone is easily accessable by simply hooking up a sync cable and running backup which copies the entire unit to a local file. From that you can do whatever you want with the file.

The only security is the Exchange lock and that is easily broken- not as in cracked, but the phone crashes pretty easily if you use too many commands at once and it crashes. Often when it auto-restores from that crash, it does so at the normal menu and has bypassed the Exchange pin lock. I thought of this as an annoying bug, but I suppose it could be now counted as a vulnerability. Depends on how you look at it, I suppose.

[jamesmac2]

The iphone is a joke.......in the business world. It's a consumer toy phone. The lack of battery life (with a Blackberry I don't have to have all these attachments to extend my battery life. Just in features along the workflow of this phone kills me. Most consumers don't need cut and paste.....however, business professionals in the field need it. The amount of e-mails I get in a day and the extra work I need to do to fix them or do anything makes me scream. Being on the road and needing a native voice dial on the phone (the apps really suck for VD) is a pain. I can't wait for the Storm to come out so I can drop this phone. I'm not in banking and they don't trust this phone.......my company is an entertainment production company and when on location for shoots this phone is a pain in the ass for what it offers. From texting and the weak camera for locations scouts...this phone can't do the job!!!!

[Constable Odo]

Yup, the iPhone is a consumer toy and is nowhere's near ready to go into the enterprise. Until it can be certified for use with law firms and banks and places with high security and be able to be deployed by the thousands, it shouldn't be considered a business tool at the BlackBerry level. That's why Congress won't be changing to iPhones. Those Congress members already waste enough time, so they don't need a media phone, anyway. Let them just use text. It doesn't matter if Apple sells dozens of millions to consumers, as far as WS is concerned the iPhone is a consumer toy and Apple is just a high-tech toy company.

Apple most likely isn't all that concerned as long as the iPhone sells to consumers. Apple probably doesn't even have enough internal developers to get the iPhone enterprise ready. Mobile OSX barely seems ready enough for consumer use since it's missing a number of standard Mobile OS capabilities. I'm certain the iPhone will get them, but no time soon.

[Seaspray0]

What I find funny? For years the apple fanboys told me that configuring active sync on a windows mobile phone to get your email from the corporate exchange server was a difficult task. I dissagreed. I said it was simple.... you enter the address to the email server, your domain username, and your domain password. Done. So now that activesync is on the iphone, I haven't heard a peep about how difficult it is to set up. Hmmm... you enter the address to the email server, your domain username, and your domain password. Done. Was that so hard?

[Seaspray0]

1. Who went into the future and got the data for the "3 years from now"? Or is this just a projection?
2. In the chart I also noticed that other brands rose just as significantly (percentage or volume wise, depending on the brand... i.e. windows mobile, linux, nokia) except for palm and blackberry (which trends down!) yet no mention or comparison. Blackberry usage is projected to decline while everyone else pretty much divides the spoils? Now that's news! And yet your title is "business warming up to the iphone". According to your chart, it is, but not just the iphone. Tom Krazit, if California had a major earthquake and sank into the ocean, would your headline read "apple headquarters gets flooded"?

[Tom Krazit]

1. The three-years-on figures are projections made by J. Gold Associates.

2. I write about Apple, as it says in my bio. My job is to track what Apple is doing and how their products are faring, which is why the story is focused on Apple.

[Seaspray0]

It also says "He has covered traditional PC companies such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard, chip companies such as Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, and mobile computers ranging from Research In Motion's to Palm's". You forgot your roots, Tom. Today, the headline would be "apple headquarters gets flooded."

[Fil0403]

Seaspray0, it's all actually very straightforward: CNET needs users (money) > most users like anti-Microsoft / pro-Apple/Google stories > CNET acts accordingly.

IOW: Who cares that RIM BlackBerry is still by far the business smartphones leader, or that Nokia is still by far the general smartphones leader, or that even Microsoft Windows Mobile phones have a far greater market-share than the Apple iPhone, and that most projections show that that will probably not change anytime soon? What matters is to follow the boat and praise the Apple iPhone! If history teach us anything, general media and users will continue bashing Microsoft and praising Apple, while reality (i.e. sales / market-share) will continue to contradict this.