[Article] 3G iPhone not ready for the enterprise?

[edesignuk]

Business users are complaining they have little idea of what the new iPhone will offer them, other than the fact that the low price is going to see every middle manager toting one while their IT departments fret about the lack of encryption and security on the phone.

Analyst J.Gold reckons businesses should be nervous of a device which offers no local encryption, and unknown central management systems.

He's issued a report on the subject, and is pretty damning in his analysis of the iPhone's security capabilities.

"Anything that I store on a BlackBerry is encrypted," he notes. "Even Microsoft, with the new services they're going to offer ... will allow encrypting files on the device ... For many users in a large organization, that's imperative. People can crack passwords, and ... who knows, business plans, competitive assessment. I can read everything you've got on there."

The Register.

 

[BongoBanger]

I can see his point - the iPhone needs to prove itself in a corporate environment from a security perspective (a lot of people who maybe haven't looked at the pros and cons have used the fact that RIM use BES as a negative which is actually kind of missing the point of why it's there in the first place) and using iTunes as the sole means of loading the device just isn't clever at all.

 

[diamond.g]

Wait, Apple didn't encrypt the contents of the iPhone (specifically email)? If not that won't fly too far with places that are encryption happy. Is anyone able to chime in on this?

I am now even more curious to know if the iPhone will support certificates for device encryption?

 

[chrisparr]

Wait, Apple didn't encrypt the contents of the iPhone (specifically email)? If not that won't fly too far with places that are encryption happy. Is anyone able to chime in on this?

I am now even more curious to know if the iPhone will support certificates for device encryption?

People say Apple have screwed up with the 3G iPhone as end users were expecting so much more.

I dismissed those comments as I saw the 3G iPhone as an attempt by apple to grab a slice of the business market. However, if all of this is true, then perhaps Apple have screwed up big time.

If you want a slice of the business market, it's a bit of a fundamental thing to miss don't you think?

 

[nastebu]

for "Business users are complaining..." read "Business user is complaining ..." This article has one source and that source has no expertise on the matter, just an opinion. I wouldn't take this very seriously.

 

[pocketdoc]

I am very excited about the new iPhone, but I was also disappointed to find out that it is not locally encrypted.

I am in the medical profession and we have federal requirements regarding patient privacy. Encryption is mandatory.

Perhaps there will be an application developed that can take care of this.

I know the article is just one person, but you cannot argue with the fact that there is no local encryption and this may hurt iPhone's corporate integration.

 

[bacaramac]

I am very excited about the new iPhone, but I was also disappointed to find out that it is not locally encrypted.

I am in the medical profession and we have federal requirements regarding patient privacy. Encryption is mandatory.

Perhaps there will be an application developed that can take care of this.

I know the article is just one person, but you cannot argue with the fact that there is no local encryption and this may hurt iPhone's corporate integration.

If this was the case I would guess a company like PGP encryption would be the ones to do this. This company is working on encryption for Mac's as we speak. Maybe they can port it to iPhone.

 

[Archie-]

Here is an article in a similar vein.

The relevant parts is that the companies want flexibility of wireless providers, they wanted cheaper business plans, they want not only remote wipe but further remote management options, they want more e-mail options than Exchange (I think Notes is still about 40% of the market), they want the SDK to be more business focused, and they did not like iTunes.

Their objections seem rather reasonable.

IT managers doubt iPhone is ready for business

Author: John-Paul Kamath Posted: 12:29 18 Jun 2008 Topics: IT

IT managers will not be making friends with fashion-conscious staff any time soon. A straw poll by Computer Weekly has shown that many do not think Apple's iPhone is ready for business use.

IT chiefs at Domino's Pizza, John Lewis and the Salvation Army say that devices such as Blackberrys and Palms will remain de facto platforms for business use despite the efforts by Apple to make its iPhone more business friendly.

Many are concerned about being tied down to one mobile supplier. Mobile firm 02 currently has an exclusive deal with Apple in the UK, and its tariffs are expensive, IT chiefs say.

The iPhone's lack of compatibility with non-Microsoft e-mail programs such as Lotus Notes is a further barrier.

Apple launched its latest version of the iPhone in June with support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync - business software that allows mobile devices to access corporate information on servers running Exchange 2003.

Apple has also launched an iPhone software development kit to allow businesses to write their own applications to run on iPhones.

Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney says that Apple's use of Microsoft's ActiveSync would be a step forward in increasing the security of the IPhone for enterprise customers.

But some IT managers think these new features do not outweigh the drawbacks of being reliant a single mobile operator.

"If you do not mind being tied to one mobile operator as an individual, that is fine. For us in Domnio's corporate, we will not be going down that route," said Jane Kimberlin, IT director at Domino's Pizza.

"We do not like the fact that we would be tied down to one particular mobile supplier, they are quite expensive. We do not see a need for iPhones. Normal PDAs are all we need at this point."

Steve Parker, network architect at John Lewis, manages an estate of approximately 2,000 Blackberrys. He says the lack of support for IBM's e-mail server software, Lotus Notes, is a barrier to adopting the iPhone. The tariffs offered by 02 are also offputting, he says.

"We have been offered iPhones on consumer tariffs - this was a major inhibitor. Many operators regard the corporate sector as a convenient bucket of individual accounts where they can get a chunk of business. This model does not work for business."

Parker says that John Lewis might evaluate the iPhone again at some point, but not supporting Lotus Notes would be a major barrier.

Mobile firm O2 says it negotiates iPhone pricing for corporate customers - more than 200 employees - individually, depending on number of devices, usage etc.

IBM plans to launch a version of Lotus Notes to support the iPhone later this year. Although Apple says that 35% of Fortune 500 companies have started developing applications to run on the iPhone using its own software development kit.

But Parker says that although programmers at John Lewis may like to play with the latest Apple software development kit, the development kit for Blackberry had wider support with major software suppliers that made it more attractive than the iPhone.

Richard Dawson, IT services manager at Bracknell Borough Forest Council, manages a smaller estate of 80 Blackberrys. He says iPhones would need to offer better remote-management features before he would consider making the switch.

"The ability to remote manage devices - remote kill and diagnoise problems - is key for us. iPhones and softphones do not offer that level of management for us at the moment."

"Blackberry has been designed and targeted for the enterprise and more importantly for the IT manager in mind. For us, it is the way to go," says Martyn Croft, head of corporate systems at the Salvation Army.

Despite the views of IT managers, the iPhone could still find its way into business as staff increasingly bring their own mobile devices to work.

Kimberlin said that the "I have got this great device I use at home, why can I not use it in the office?" attitude is an issue IT managers may be forced to deal with in the future.

"I think one of the problems we have suffered has been the domestication of IT," Croft said.

He said home technology is becoming indistinguishable from business technology, which makes it difficult to train staff in how to use business technology more securely than they use consumer devices.

According to Ovum, IT departments face the challenge of potentially supporting four mobile operating system platforms in the future: Research in Motion's Blackberry Enterprise Server, Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0, the Nokia/Symbian platform and now iPhone 2.0.

IT directors will have to assess the security impact of putting the iPhone on the corporate network, if Apple is successful at making the iPhone an enterprise.

In spite of Apple's efforts to build security in to the iPhone, Tony Cripps, senior analyst at Ovum, said that businesses should be wary of iTunes, an integral part of the iPhone 3G device.

The iTunes music store is used by Apple to upgrade software on the iPhone, Cripps said.

"IT directors will need to get assurances from Apple that any security risk on iTunes cannot be passed onto the corporate network."

http://www.computerweekly.com/Artic...nagers-doubt-iphone-is-ready-for-business.htm

 

[chrisparr]

Here is an article in a similar vein.

The relevant parts is that the companies want flexibility of wireless providers, they wanted cheaper business plans, they want not only remote wipe but further remote management options, they want more e-mail options than Exchange (I think Notes is still about 40% of the market), they want the SDK to be more business focused, and they did not like iTunes.

Their objections seem rather reasonable.


http://www.computerweekly.com/Artic...nagers-doubt-iphone-is-ready-for-business.htm

Interesting article. Apple will always do okay selling the iPhone to normal end users. That's mainy because a lot of people will buy Apple just because its Apple, even if better things exist on the market (I've never really understood the fanboy thing).

It looks like Apple will find out the hard way that companies are not fanboys. Whilst companies will download the SDK for a bit of R&D, and they will happily demo a few iPhones, that is probably as far as they go.

It's the same reason why I'm not impressed when Apple come out with statements like "250, 000 people downloaded the SDK. Isn't that fantastic!"

I'm a Software Engineer and downloaded it to have a play with. I fired it up once and haven't touched it since. I bet I'm not in the minority there.

In business, strategy is something that you have to look at from all directions. In going after a slice of the business market, Apple may have failed to consider a lot of factors here.

 

[lsvtecjohn3]

did any of you guys watch the WWDC? Apple already went over this they do offer encryption it was one of the 15 things or whatever that had to for the enterprise, this article is junk

 

[diamond.g]

did any of you guys watch the WWDC? Apple already went over this they do offer encryption it was one of the 15 things or whatever that had to for the enterprise, this article is junk

Wasn't that dealing with VPN though? I also don't remember Apple talking about the iPhone accepting authentication certificates, I am pretty sure Exchange needs those to send the mail in a secure fashion (or at least that is what MSDN/TECHNET is claiming).