Comments on: IPhone: A tool for enterprise?

By: Preston Sisk

Preston Sisk — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:05:57 +0000

iPhone’s usefulness in the enterprise (and for the individual, for that matter) is SEVERELY LIMITED by Apple’s joint agreement with AT&T, whose wireless coverage is puny, at best, outside large metropolitan areas. Our (medium-sized) corporation does most of it’s business in an 80 mile by 50 mile chunk of the East Coast (Tidewater Virginia and parts South) and my new iPhone 3G doesn’t have service in over half of that area, including my home. Verizon’s coverage, by way of contrast, includes virtually the whole territory.

The appliance itself, with its burgeoning array of applications, is remarkable–the next level of technology, in my opinion. But the iPhone will never be an enterprise solution if we are not permitted to negotiate our own contracts with service providers. Once again, Apple’s arrogance has limited their ability to market their product.

By: Technophile

Technophile — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 02:10:40 +0000

Far from an enterprise class tool but potentially more than a novelty.

I only got an iTouch to test for enterprise application in combination with our ubiquitous wifi. As such I have no opinion on the 3G, voice and GPS functions of the Iphone. I have been working extensively with the applications and data/netork features.

Regarding the mail features this is still a severe weak point for iPhones/iTouch in the enterprise. Even if the Exchange tools were fully functional, there are many enterprises that are not using exchange. The Blackberry enterpise server seupports other platforms (such as ours, Novell Groupwise)and is quite full featured.

In our case I am evaluating the iPhone/iTouch as a data access/system managment tool. We use an older Cisco 3000 series vpn in combination with RSA token authentication to secure access to these services. The iphone ipsec client is failing with RSA authentication and we would have to upgrade our concentrators to fix the issue (if that is actually a fix).

Until the IPSEC vpn client works with RSA token authentication, the iPhone/iTouch can’t even be used as a special purpose device for field technicians to use in performance of their duties. So we either upgrade our concentrators or …?

By: Warick

Warick — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:03:07 +0000

Expectation setting is the key. Far too many people, bloggers in this thread included, want a fully inclusive device that meets all their needs. Unfortunately this does not exist, yet. We use the iPhone because it works for what we need. Do we want the always-on email that Blackberry users seem to crave - no - we use sms for alerting and wireless connected laptops to do work. We have Citrix-enabled remote access and can get back to the enterprise for all critical apps via the iPhone if absolutely necessary. We do not try and make the iPhone into the laptop replacement nor a one-stop shop for all activities. Best reason for user adopting the iPhone is ease of use - training people to use it has been zero! Stability is fine for what we use it for and features (the business ones) are sufficient. Plus it has a number of other applications (base and 3rd party) that make it much more usable for non-work use. One of the things my users like is being able to have one device for work and play - that is a real win.

By: Charles

Charles — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:43:37 +0000

The iPhone any iPhone is a toy nothing more. For business, that needs a phone to integrate with Exchange, a Blackberry is the way to go. I reference Blackberry because that is what my company uses the iPhones were tested and deemed a toy.

By: Mike R

Mike R — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:02:11 +0000

I have used Blackberry extensively and the iPhone for the full year since it has been out. The conclusion is very simple:

Blackberry is and will be the superior business tool because it is designed better for that purpose, operates more reliably for that purpose, and is led by a company deeply focused on that purpose. As a result it simply gets more done, easier, faster in the hands of the people it is designed for: busy business professionals.

iPhone is a great consumer tool and the addition of applications will make it wildly successful as a consumer device and occasional niche device for business to use for special purposes (factory, loading dock, retail store, but not as tool for the general professional. It is led by a Company focused and successful on the consumer market and this will both help it succeed in general, and limit it’s competitiveness in the business market.

Bottom line: Both are great tools, but excel in very different ways.

Mike

By: Stuart

Stuart — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:01:32 +0000

I have had my iPhone 3G for about month, purchased in Australia (thats were I live) and it is fully unlocked (legally) and I am ready to swap it with my daughters iTouch.
No copy/Paste. No tasks outside of the calendar. No note sync. Can’t backup SMS messages. Unable to attach multiple images to emails. From the photo browser you can only send ONE picture. Can not forward contact details to others. Can’t use the content of an SMS for other functions (ie if someone sends a phone number or address). keyboard is hit and miss and practice doesn’t necessarily improve capability. When overseas the GPS is near useless unless you want to pay the high international roaming data rates or can find a free wifi connection. GPS does not offer turn-by-turn capability so no good in a vehicle unless the passenger manages the unit. This is just preliminary list.
For business, not practical.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 20:00:03 +0000

I-T-S A T-O-Y

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:42:04 +0000

The iphone is a novelty. While it can provide tools for productive uses (email, web access), most who purchase boast of its non business uses. Having said that - we must support it because it is what the customer expects.

By: Ron

Ron — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:49:29 +0000

After looking at the iPhone 3G for our users, I come to the conclusion that it’s a great smartphone for consumer users that have some corporate needs but it’s really not yet ready for prime-time for the power corporate user.

One of the biggest issues, the lack of 3G support in our site area, completely defeats any advantages to internet speeds. Of course this is largely due to the fact that the iPhone is only offered on ATT’s network.

The other problem is that there is no copy and paste so there’s no data exchange between applications. To me this is the primary reason to have a smartphone over a traditional cell phone. I believe if you can’t work on a smartphone for most of your productivity needs it’s purpose is pretty much defeated.

The other issue I have is the inability to replace the battery. There are times with heavy usage and travelling that you just need extra batteries. The iPhone has no way to change batteries at all.

All in all, the iPhone is very sexy… to the point that it can be called even glamorous, but it lacks the basic features that corporate power users may need.

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:01:54 +0000

We are believers. Anyone who says the iPhone is NOT a tool for business “PC guy” who has a grudge against Apple and is not a forward thinker. We have opened a developer relationship with Apple so we can develop our enterprise financial apps on the iPhone and distribute it to our field reps.

As far as IT goes, its the next best thing to a laptop. I can RDP in to any of my servers at anytime to fix a problem or prevent one.

Mail, Contact and Calendar integration with Exchange is now easy and secure.

While some see the soft keyboard as a negative I don’t. Like any new keyboard it takes time getting used to. Once you do it works just fine. The battery life could be better. But I solve it by charging on the way home from work in the car. My charge lasts the whole work day. if it doesn’t I plug it in to my computer. Not great, but workable.

Oh, one more thing. I hope my “CORPORATE” users aren’t sending files to a bluetooth printer. haha

Mark