“In less than a year, the iPhone has won the hearts of users, who speak of the combination cellphone, Internet device and music player with reverence,” Ben Worthen reports for The Wall Street Journal.
“Indeed, the iPhone, which maker Apple Inc. says has captured 28% of the U.S. smart-phone market, seems to be loved by everyone — everyone, that is, except those who work in corporate information-technology departments,” Worthen reports.
“Designed with the consumer in mind, the iPhone is less secure than business-oriented smart phones such as those from Nokia Corp. or Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry, according to IT professionals. But that isn’t stopping people from using the device for work-related tasks such as checking email, managing sales contacts and getting information about prospective clients. In fact, market researcher Nielsen Co. estimates that one-quarter of iPhone owners over the age of 18 pass their phone bills on to their employer, suggesting significant use of the device for business,” Worthen reports.
“Many IT groups have banned the iPhone from their workplaces, complaining that there is no way to force employees to protect their iPhones with passwords and that they can’t erase sensitive corporate data from remote locations if the device is stolen or lost. Additionally, they say the iPhone doesn’t support the software many businesses use and that it only works on one cellular carrier’s network,” Worthen reports. “But keeping the iPhone out of the office may be a losing battle. As a result, some technology experts say the iPhone could usher in a change in the way businesses adopt new technologies.”
Worthen reports, “As Beth Cannon, the San Francisco-based chief security officer for Thomas Weisel Partners Group, says: Even after she explains to people why her IT department can’t allow them to use the device, they ‘still want to use their iPhone.'”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Mike in Helsinki” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Note: Apple’s iPhone 2.0 software, scheduled for release this June, will include new enterprise features such as support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to provide secure, over-the-air push email, contacts and calendars as well as remote wipe, and the addition of Cisco IPsec VPN for encrypted access to private corporate networks.
“Many IT groups have banned the iPhone from their workplaces . . .”
Not for much longer. I wonder how many of those IT folks secretly have iPhones?
IT nazis drive me crazy!!!
My brother who works for Compuware in Michigan has an iPhone.. he’s been hoping for exchange support since he bought it..
Unfortunately, his company’s response to the upcoming iPhone update was, “We will not be supporting Active-Sync…” Needles to say, he’s pissed..
Strangely enough, the CEO of Compuware, Pete Karmanos owns an iPhone too.. They employ about 3000 people in Detroit, MI.
give these IT dinosaurs free iPhones
Ok .. I’m one of those IT Nazi’s mentioned above.
The Iphone is simply not viewed as an enterprise device (yet), I’m part of the 2.0 Beta and it’s very basic enterprise support so if your on a Blackberry and expect similar functionality you will be let down.
I think it’s a great pro-sumer device but it’s core function is media, not exactly a business driver and please don’t go on and on about the SDK, it’s going to be Q4 or later for most business apps and many of the really good ones will not be free.
So for small business, looser IT controlled businesses .. sure the iphone and similar will get exposure but here in fortune 100 world controls are in place to prevent.
Desktops are locked down, so no loading of itunes (which is silly having it required, but it’s an apple control – welcome to the whole cirus deal)
USB ports are disabled
ActiveSync is controlled on Exchange and enabled on a per user level and will require approval, with ActiveSync your stuck with Outlook Web / Mobile Access.
If it supports it, Microsoft Device Manager has even more controls to lock down the camera, loading of 3rd party applications etc.
If needed we could kill the wireless signal and internal WIFI is locked down already to only approved devices.
Mobility has a whole slew of concerns around it beyond, I want the latest cool gadget, data leakage is a growing concern and the thought of mp3/video on a corporate owned device is like water and oil.
There will be interesting decisions and policies for Human Resource departments as the line between personal / work life balance confronts IT goverance.
Don’t think this is just about not noticing exciting new technology, many companies are watching the iphone and happy with Blackberry.
BTW Apple user since the IIe through my current G5 so I’m not anti apple .. I bought their products long before the ipod saved them.
When are the IT guys that think they know everything going to pull the heads out of their asses?
How about it being as simple as IT being there to serve the needs of the people actually DOING WORK and BILLING CLIENTS. IT doesn’t run the show, it’s the other way around.
If people want it, then they should have it.
june june june!!!!
im getting an iphone!
im getting an iphone!
im getting an iphone!
im getting an iphone!
yippy!!!
my wife is letting me get an iphone!!
woohoo!!!
im getting an iphone!
im getting an iphone!
im getting an iphone!
I watched the keynote videos too. I look forward to seeing the newest iPhone upgrade with better exchange support. Unfortunately, we still will hear from the IT Windows Nazis that the iPhone and Mac OS are a security risk to their ultra-secure Windows-based networks. Whaaaat!?!?!?
My firm announced support starting in June but the CIO commented that people need to realize it has NO physical keyboard and that email addicted road warriors will need to think really hard about that. Guess he hasn’t used one himself. Sure it takes a bit getting used to but not a big deal in the end.
I especially loved what this Wall Street Journal article said about SAP starting to develop for the iPhone. Now if they could just create SAP for the Mac OS, that would be cool! Is that what they call the halo effect?
Why does MDN have such a negative take on IT? I have worked in IT for 15+ years and am an avid Mac fan. I use an iPhone within my enterprise and use my company-bought MacBook pro every day.
MDN: I don’t think the IT industry is as negative on Apple as you might think.
I honestly don’t know why IT staff at some companies would ban the iPhone. It’s just silly. We here at my company are excited about adding the iPhone to our enterprise. We have 2 users currently and are awaiting the 2.0 upgrade. No doubt we will add many more iPhones to our company soon.
@ MobileAdmin –
Good points all. I sincerely hope (and firmly believe) that Apple will simply cede the corporate market that locks down desktops and disables phone functions to RIM et. al., and keep the iPhone the user-centric marvel that it is.
Small company IT guy here: We embraced the iPhone the weekend it came out, and haven’t looked back. We’re also dumping everything Windows and going all-Mac for our office. We know that the whole system, server to workstations, will be much easier to maintain than Windows bloatware. Cheaper, too, in the end, since we don’t have to deal with MS’s arcane licensing.
Guess it sucks to be one of those Big Company Admins, with all those rules, policies, and inflexibility that keep them from enjoying upgrading to newer, better technology. Oh, and don’t flame me about how easy it is for a small company to switch — we’re having to rip everything out and start from scratch, so this is no walk in the park either. The end result will be worth it, though.
Here’s a link to a Computer User’s Bill of Rights:
http://www.businessweek.com/1998/39/b3597037.htm
If you follow along, you’ll note that most IT departments disagree with every single point.
Anyone commenting on the iPhone’s keyboard should be required to try it first before opening one’s pie hole.
I watched the SDK Keynote with glee. One by one, the legitimate criticisms of the iPhone evaporated. The pathetic whiners are left with pointless debates over what “3G” means and bitching about GPS. And when every iPhone not jailbroken is automatically updated to the latest and greatest capabilities, the crap distributed by the usual suspects will look more and more pathetic.
I have a Palm Tunsgten, a Motorola E810, and a 30 Gig video iPod. Guess which on those three is the only product to receive regular updates?
Every other so-called competitor to the iPhone uses abandonware principles. The ongoing refinement and addition of features that the iPhone will get puts it in another class entirely.
Apple does not want nor need Fortune 500 companies for business customers of the iPhone. Let those dinosaurs fight over BB and MS phones.
The huge, large majority of business users are small to medium sized. They have to be more flexible. They are lovers of iPhones.
I know how the IT world works in large corporations. Its broke. Forget them Apple, and keep doing what you are doing.
If they want to come along because the employees will revolt, learn to live with Apple’s way of doing it.
MobileAdmin
Ok .. I’m one of those IT Nazi’s mentioned above.
The Iphone is simply not viewed as an enterprise device (yet), I’m part of the 2.0 Beta and it’s very basic enterprise support so if your on a Blackberry and expect similar functionality you will be let down.
==============================
Lol…you’re funny.
BTW – it’s “You’re” not “your”.
I look forward to testing the iPhone in a heterogeneous environment. The AT&T;portion of the equation sucks–we just dumped all but a handful of our AT&T;mobile accounts–but I’m curious as to how it can work vis a vis our BB 8830s.
“How about it being as simple as IT being there to serve the needs of the people actually DOING WORK and BILLING CLIENTS. IT doesn’t run the show, it’s the other way around.
If people want it, then they should have it.”
It’s this kind of attitude that breeds the creation of IT policies centered around corporate IT security and conformity in the first place It’s not your data or your assets, it’s the company’s data and assets. The user is *not* always right. Au contraire…
As for the User’s Bill of Rights, when users are smarter than the equipment they’re using, then they can have some rights.
Pick up an iPhone.
You too can be smarter than the equipment you’re using.
@ Tiger Leopard and Macromancer
Attitudes like that is why you hear about major companies getting hacked and loosing your credit card numbers and SSN’s, security isn’t just the OS having a good firewall and not being susceptible to viruses.
Most people are stupid about security (PEBCAC and ID10T were created for very real reasons). Doesn’t matter what their IQ is or how many companies they have led to fortune 500 status, you will still find them using their last name spelled in reverse for a password and thinking it’s unbreakable and no hacker would ever think about trying it.
The policies of IT regarding passwords and data security are in place exactly for those reasons. If someone with access to very sensitive data has remote access rights and a password of “password” your data is open to the highest bidder, and several other bidders as well. You may think IT is being a dinosaur for not accepting iPhones with open arms, but until they can control the security of the data the iPhone will be holding, enforce passwords, remotely wipe if stolen or lost, etc. I don’t see iPhones showing up in major companies any time soon.
If you disagree feel free to post your credit card numbers, SSN, and any other information you don’t want securely handled. I for one would rather IT be somewhat draconian about security to head off those morons who think “1234” is a good PIN for their credit card.
@Rudge-
SAP does run on OS-X.
S
“It would be nice if you weren’t forced to get all your apps from Apple.”
No it would not. One of the reasons Apple is controlling the software is for security purposes (IT folks take note).