“When Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that the iPhone was ready for enterprise use, the announcement caused a stir that few of the world’s iconic businessmen could match. It seemed that everyone from rank-and-file worker-bees to CEOs wanted to get their corporate applications served up on the hot new device. Why? This was Apple — a synonym for awe-inspiring design and coolness, the antithesis to stodgy old corporate technology that burns the eyes red and freezes computers blue,” C.G. Lynch writes for InfoWorld.
“But some Apple-watchers and evangelist IT practitioners who use Macs for business think the announcement runs deeper than the iPhone itself in its importance. Some believe it could usher in the era of a more enterprise-friendly Apple,” Lynch writes.
“Such a paradigm shift, they argue, could serve as the final ingredient in the boiling cauldron being stirred by employees at the edge of organizations who have become dissatisfied with corporate technology and who have turned to innovative options in the consumer space to meet their needs,” Lynch writes.
Full article here.
iPhone 2.0 is the ‘Trojan Horse’ that is going to be used to infiltrate the corporate hierarchy from top to bottom. Think of it as the ‘Stealth Mac’. Its only a matter of time before the tipping point is achieved. . .
I see it as more of a first step in changing the perception of enterprise to being more amenable to things that aren’t solely Microsoft based. They think they need all this Microsoft shit but they don’t, Apple give them this but then hook them in and gradually get them off the junk.
I would like to see real time stock quotes.
Most companies are way too entrenched in the PC/Windows platform to change to Mac’s, especially when you consider the expensed associated with training people and purchasing new equipment. iPhone 2.0 is going to give the IT Nazi’s major headaches but as competitors come out with clones the iPhone mania will pass.
No. Apple is releasing iPhone 2.0 and the SDK to distance itself from enterprise applications. In fact, SDK and enterprise Apple Web introduction page that has been up for over a month is a ruse design specifically to confuse hyper-intelligent web pundits.
Just my $0.02
This will turn the tide. You want to program for the iPhone? Guess what computer you need.
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“This will turn the tide. You want to program for the iPhone? Guess what computer you need.”
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Windows developers alone are not gonna make a difference.. Even if say 50,000 Windows only developers went out and bought Macs at once with the intent to develop for iPhone, that is nothing compared to the 2 million or so Macs that Apple typically sells in a quarter..
@Rich Apple person
Companies that want to stay alive today need to find ways to cut costs and gain value from little things like their IT infrastructure. Those entrenched companies can stay the way they are and get left behind.
And as for iphone clones……..your kidding…right?
“…the antithesis to stodgy old corporate technology that burns the eyes red and freezes computers blue”
Man, that is freakin’ hilarious!!!
iPhone 2.0 will not open the floodgates to companies dumping Windows PCs and buying Macs. It will; however, open the eyes of many people who have not really looked at a Mac in a long time.
It may also open the eyes of IT professionals – if Apple can show (and support!) how easy it is to have the iPhone do what IT and the actual users need, then they may become more open to Macs in the enterprise.
There is still the problem of mixed environments, and dealing with proprietary software that runs only on Windows/DOS. Yes, Parallels/VMware help, but it’s still not as seamless as if the software was written for Mac OS X.
And despite MDN and other’s claims that you don’t need Microsoft Office, the fact is that many organizations do need Office, and Pages simply does not translate everything from an Office doc correctly.
Apple in the enterprise is inevitable…
Apple in the enterprise inevitable? Not even close.
They don’t have the infrastructure or interest in supporting businesses, not the least of which is because businesses have zero interest in buying new hardware and new OS builds simply because they’re available. It doesn’t work that way when you’re dealing with hundreds or thousands of machines.
pssst Another IT Guy…
Yeah I think you are wrong…I think a lot of people are going to buy the iPhone and then tell the IT department to “make it so”….as far as desktops and laptops…I see it happening already….small granted but here and there it is happening.
Boycot all Apple china made products! Free Tibet!!
I have an iPhone, I “had a Treo, I have never owned a Blackberry. I am AMAZED at how easy the iPhone is to use. For shore b-Trips–1-3 days it is basically a laptop replacement. I never said that about my Treo, which compared to the iPhone just looks, feels and acts really …uh OLD! Enterprise “should” jump on the iPhone and eventually the Mac laptops and desktops…they just work better. If the IT department can’t figure it out well, fire them and hire somebody who can. It isn’t that tough.
@Another IT Guy
Careful. Your fear is beginning to show. Nothing you or I think or say (preach) is going to change the inevitable. All of those that use any common sense know it.
“businesses have zero interest in buying new hardware and new OS builds”
But do they not have a huge interest in cost of ownership and cost cutting? Can you say smaller IT staff?
I’m one IT Guy that is moving forward while the pace is still controllable.
Another “IT Guy”
Could Apple be working quietly with MS to develop an OS X native version of Exchange? That could certainly eliminate one hurdle for seeing Macs in the Enterprise.
re: “Boycot all Apple china made products! Free Tibet!!”
I absolutely agree with the Free Tibet part.
Rich Apple Guy refers to “the expensed associated with training people and purchasing new equipment” as a disincentive to migrating to Mac. But that’s simply wrong. I supported desktops and servers as we moved from DOS to Windows 3.1, to NT 3.5, to NT 4.0, to Windows 2000, to XP. My colleagues in Development were “retrained” as they moved from Oracle on Sun to .Net on SQL Server. (I could only offer my condolences.) Migrations and retraining are a fact of life. A move to Mac would be no different, except the end result would be better.
@Spark
You may be on to something. I’m more inclined, though, to believe we’ll find Exchange integrated into the Apple Mail program. They’ve already licensed ActiveSync for the iPhone, after all.
I’m a Microsoft .NET developer, and I just bought my first mac ever (macbook) to write iPhone software. But all my buddies are way more interested in windows mobile due to it’s windows similarities (despite how terrible it is, it’s just easier for them to learn) or android (which will cover a lot more carriers, phone manufacturers, phone models, and customers – with greater earning potential).
As for throwing microsoft out of the workplace, it’s never going to happen. We have 15 year old custom written applications up to applications written last week. It would take decades to throw all that away and replace them with cocoa applications for macs.
Maybe we could incorporate macs into the workplace for sure (although we don’t now). But as for getting rid of microsoft, go back to the real world.
The IT department will be developing programs to work on the iPhone because they will have to. The boss will saw, “Make it so”.
What you all are missing, is that the same program written to work on the iPhone can then be compiled to work on the Mac OS X computers.
If the iPhone gets in, the Mac gets in. Story is over.
@Yo
You are correct, yet Microsoft does not need to be eliminated for Apple to have a greater impact in the Enterprise sector. Your experience and success with iPhone development will make it far easier for you to continue onto Macintosh development; especially when more of the multitouch gestures become incorporated into future OS X builds. If Apple can entice just a fraction of current Windows developers to Mac development a shot, the iPhone SDK will have served a great purpose beyond the original objective.
@standardmess
If I am not mistaken, ActiveSync allows Apple to only communicate directly with Exchange Servers. In other words, a company still needs to have an Exchange Server to take advantage of ActiveSync. And Exchange Server only runs on Windows Servers right now. MS may not be inclined to share with Apple what is a lynchpin to their chain of Server and Back Office suites. But to make Mac XServes more attractive, the availability of a native Exchange Server would be a plus. Knowing MS the way we do (i.e. Mac Office Suite), a Mac native version of Exchange would be at least two versions behind their Windows version.
@ Another IT guy,
You said, “Apple in the enterprise inevitable? Not even close. “
Read the previous article. It seems that Apple servers work just fine and there is plenty of software out there to allow them to work in mixed environments.
“They don’t have the infrastructure or interest in supporting businesses, not the least of which is because businesses have zero interest in buying new hardware and new OS builds simply because they’re available. It doesn’t work that way when you’re dealing with hundreds or thousands of machines.”
Maybe what Apple does not want to deal with is the Enterprise think that says “BUY CHEAP MACHINES and save money” then pay the IT guy over time to keep them running.
Apple expects you to pay more money up front but a lot less money as you use the system (also for less MS licenses $$$$$$$). Those companies that only see cheap machines as being worth the money are not worth bothering with.
Just a thought.