Comments on: Turn-About is Fair Pay: Forrester Gives 4 Reasons Enterprise IT Should Support iPhone

By: Pocketdoc

Pocketdoc — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:37:16 +0000

BUT, there is no internal encryption within the iPhone. BBs and WM devices have had it for years. Isn't that somewhat of a requirement for enterprise?

My $0.02...

By: Hayden

Hayden — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:19:01 +0000

@fassy: Let me point out that iPhone supports remote wiping with firmware 2.x.x. However, Apple needs a business-oriented iPhone management app, not iTunes.

By: fassy

fassy — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:42:01 +0000

Enterprises that are resisting the iPhone are not doing so because of the capabilities of the iPhone for users, or for even helpdesk/supporting users, but for managing the devices after they are out there.

Some enterprises need the ability to remote lock or remote wipe devices. Others need to bulk deploy custom applications easily, either company wide or to specific profiles or groups within the company. A few more need security auditing running constantly (hello, background processes). And some just flat-out hate having iTunes on their network.

WinPhos, and Treos, and especially Blackberries, whatever their flaws as phones, have those management issues licked. Apple has chosen not to focus on them to date. For each one of the above Apple addresses, they will pick up another chunk of those enterprise customers. It is just a question of when (if?) Apple decides it is worth it to address each one.

By: sting7k

sting7k — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 18:03:50 +0000

I really don't see why any enterprise would not want to allow iPhones. Any person I've handed my iPhone too has been able to figure it out quickly and easily; always saying wow that makes sense! Put a BB or WinMo phone in someone's hands and if they have never used it before it can be daunting to learn the in's and out's of the device in a reasonable amount of time to be productive right out of the gate.

With MS ActiveSync and all that setting them up should be a breeze for any computer running in an MS enviornment. If it only took me 5 minutes to get Google Sync running via exchange any IT person can do it in probably 5 seconds with a company exchange server.

You also don't have to rely on third parties to get important data too employees; ie BES.

By: cardfan

cardfan — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:06:47 +0000

Sounds like a lot of love for the iphone browser which is understandable. That distinction won’t be there for much longer though with the Pre which will feature a real kb along with a better web browser.

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:06:51 +0000

As the IT Manager for a company of 25 employees, I can say unequivocally that the iPhone has been the easiest and most enjoyable smartphone to support on our corporate infrastructure. I have had to provide support for WinMo, Palm, and Blackberry devices as well. All proved to be difficult to set up in one fashion or another.

It is true that with Blackberries, and to a lesser extent Palm devices, that browsing the web is much more of a chore. In fact, even with the iPhone's current shortcomings, I can't think of a single task that seems like a chore on the phone. What it can't do, it can't do. But, what it can do, it does much better than any of the others.

It takes less than two minutes for me to set someone up on our Exchange type mail system. Also, I only have to give a few minutes of instructions and users are already figuring out how to do things on their own. With the other devices, I am still having to help people even a full year after they started using them.