OhOh! Company Won't Support iPhone. Only BlackBerry. WHY?

[synagence]

In a feat of sheer management genius .... our company recently gave us all (several thousand employees) Blackberry Pearl handsets .... BUT didn't allow us a Data plan .... so its basically a phone/sms device .... its a joke...

On a side note ... the blackberry pearl has the most unintuitive and unpleasant UI i have ever used on a mobile device.

 

[spamdumpster]

On a side note ... the blackberry pearl has the most unintuitive and unpleasant UI i have ever used on a mobile device.

Quite the fanboi/gal statement there. I used a blackberry pearl for about a year. The UI is both very intuitive and pleasant. You're not using yours for email (no data plan), so you probably haven't taken the time to get used to it.

Of course, the iPhone is a better device than any blackberry, IMHO, but that doesn't make the Pearl a bad device.

 

[SHIFTLife]

i should probably qualify my statement about IT by saying there are essentially 2 types of IT departments out there, there is the type that loves the new tech, loves to try it out, loves to find creative ways to implement it to bring value to the company and use it to make things better in the company and they are embraced by the decision makers of the company because they have been able to show that IT isn't just an expense but is as critical as sales/marketing and other more traditional revenue generating departments

then there is the IT group that loves new tech but has never been able to get their executives to buy in and they are seen as a "necessary evil" another cost to the company and don't bring value, and these guys end up indifferent and just show up to work for a paycheck and don't care, surf the internet all day and don't do anything unless something breaks.

but everyone does need to keep in mind that the blame isn't all on IT, IT is still thought of as a "necessary evil" in a lot of companies, something that just bleeds the company of money but never gives anything back in return, and it is a lot of times an uphill battle for those groups. i've been in companies like that and it is not fun to work in IT when you are there, no one wants to do anything and they all just sit around, i'm just glad i'm at a place now where we embrace technology and we are encouraged to find new ways to improve current processes rather than just be status quo

Amen! I'm in the latter group. I work for a rather large food retail chain, and IT is just that... a necessary evil that corporate HQ keeps around because you can't sell groceries without cash registers, and you can't get email without computers

Rather than spend money on IT and allow us to provide the best experience to our end users, they'd rather spend cash on useless crap like sending regional leadership members to Costa Rica to visit banana farms and whatnot...

 

[synagence]

Quite the fanboi/gal statement there. I used a blackberry pearl for about a year. The UI is both very intuitive and pleasant. You're not using yours for email (no data plan), so you probably haven't taken the time to get used to it.

You're right of course in the fact that i haven't taken the time and oportunity to get fully used to it as i barely use it....

But some general points..
1. trying to stuff more or less a full qwerty keyboard on a small candybar format handset makes the buttons almost unusable for me (i don't have stylus like fingers admitedly but i have had no problems with most other "normal" phone keypads)
2. The menus in the phone are just walls of text ... each option page reveals itself to be another page full of options ... I know its a complex device meant to connect to corporate networks and mail systems so that is kinda hard to avoid but i don't find it clear and sensible...
3. Its just a dull device and the fact you can't charge the device over USB WIHTOUT installing the 80mb blackberry management software is just idiotic.

You won't change my mind on this device .... i just don't like it ... more the fact that i don't know why our company even bothered to give thousands of users blackberries to be just a phone+sms device

 

[BornAgainMac]

I wish an entire list of features missing is made available to Apple this time. I thought they nailed it. I am afraid if the iPhone did all these things then another list of features the Blackberry had for years will pop up.

 

[ScottFitz]

My husband just emailed me (we both have 2g, now 3g iPhones), saying the new management of his company will not support the iPhone and are giving him a BlackBerry which will force him to carry 2 phones or ditch his iPhone.

Why on earth would that be necessary? I admit to not following the new business side of 2.0, but I thought this BS with business ended and was a done deal now. What am I missing? I need to get more details on their reasoning but I need to know if this company is misinformed on this issue so we can change their minds.

Anyone else experiencing this?

Why? Because IT people are basically lazy and don't want to learn anything new. Someone has convinced them that the Blackberry's are more secure than the iphone. Everyone is worried about their little corporate secrets getting out.

 

[SHIFTLife]

Why? Because IT people are basically lazy and don't want to learn anything new. Someone has convinced them that the Blackberry's are more secure than the iphone. Everyone is worried about their little corporate secrets getting out.

Next time you post, pull your head out of your ass first. Yes, everyone is worried about corporate secrets getting out. Do you know anything about business? Trade secrets keep companies afloat, and this is why there are laws regarding trade secrets. If everything about the iPhone leaked a year or two ahead of time, and some other company made one first, where would Apple be now?

If my CIO says "We're not going to support iPhones because of X, Y, and Z", I can't allow some tool like yourself who thinks he or she is entitled to run whatever device or software they want go buy an iPhone and attach it to our company network. It's out of the hands of the "IT People". We're doing what we're paid to.

Don't like that? Get a new job. Simple as that.

 

[dquattlebum]

Why? Because IT people are basically lazy and don't want to learn anything new. Someone has convinced them that the Blackberry's are more secure than the iphone. Everyone is worried about their little corporate secrets getting out.

You apparently don't work in IT. Its not IT that hinders the release of new technology, its the idiot managers and end-users that don't want to change for anything new, cause it's scary and they won't understand it.

 

[question fear]

i should probably qualify my statement about IT by saying there are essentially 2 types of IT departments out there, there is the type that loves the new tech, loves to try it out, loves to find creative ways to implement it to bring value to the company and use it to make things better in the company and they are embraced by the decision makers of the company because they have been able to show that IT isn't just an expense but is as critical as sales/marketing and other more traditional revenue generating departments

then there is the IT group that loves new tech but has never been able to get their executives to buy in and they are seen as a "necessary evil" another cost to the company and don't bring value, and these guys end up indifferent and just show up to work for a paycheck and don't care, surf the internet all day and don't do anything unless something breaks.

but everyone does need to keep in mind that the blame isn't all on IT, IT is still thought of as a "necessary evil" in a lot of companies, something that just bleeds the company of money but never gives anything back in return, and it is a lot of times an uphill battle for those groups. i've been in companies like that and it is not fun to work in IT when you are there, no one wants to do anything and they all just sit around, i'm just glad i'm at a place now where we embrace technology and we are encouraged to find new ways to improve current processes rather than just be status quo

Nicely put!


Also, I have no idea what size the OP's company is, but at a decent sized company, IT is supporting upwards of several thousand bits of equipment. Probably on a limited budget. It's not an easy job. I don't work in IT, but I am the resident "X isn't working can you fix it for me" go to person in my office, and I am constantly explaining to everyone that if this company has several thousand employees, then IT is supporting several thousand computers. That means security is tighter, the computers may not be cutting edge, etc. It sucks, but then again there's a few hundred people fielding calls and supporting tech for several thousand people. It's not an easy job.

I know everyone says "Why can't they just flip a switch, it's IT being stupid", but it's not that they're being stupid, they're just trying to standardize. If everyone else has blackberries, it's easy to troubleshoot, easy to fix, etc. If one person has an iPhone, then you're creating extra work when your emails aren't working or something goes wrong. I haven't worked in IT, but I know enough about business and computers to know that there's an easy way and a hard way to do things, and when you have limited resources and limited time, standardizing everyone on one platform is going to save you a major headache. Especially since RIM rolls out the red carpet to businesses, and makes that market their bread and butter. Apple made it an option, not their primary business plan.

 

[djrobsd]

I'll try to find out more. I'm gleaning the company didn't have anything in place and just went to this Blackberry for everyone concept.

As of right now, this is a tragedy. Bonus points for now surely they won't reimburse the iPhone's monthly AT&T fee. We just upgraded to the 3g plan on launch! I need to do everything in my power to change this situation, but as of now, we need to find out if the company can do Active Sync?

Well since you upgraded at launch, if your husband doesn't want to carry two phones, better hurry you only have about 9 more days to cancel the contract!

Seriously though, my company is in the same boat. We have Exchange, and it DOES Have a check box for Activesync, but it's much more complicated then that. As an aside, does your husband really need to be in contact with work 24/7? I've found that since I got my iPhone I have not looked at my Motorola Q phone for a while! My Q is getting shut off on Monday, and I will then no longer be chained down to work (unless they call me after hours!).

Our VPN doesn't work with the iPhone (at least not as currently setup) and our IT Director isn't about to open up ActiveSync without requiring users to be behind the VPN, so I'm not sure how it's going to work.

By the way, if you do use a VPN and ActiveSync with your iPhone does it work good??? How does the VPN connection stay alive? I thought it shut down when the iPhone went so sleep, which would pretty much prohibit push email, right?\

Also, another thing I'd like to know, is it possible for some app developer to come out with a workaround, i.e. a desktop app that monitors your Outlook and forwards the messages? I have this on my Motorola Q and it works great. On the other hand, Verizon invested millions into the security infrustructure behind the desktop mail forwarding app, so that's probably why it may not be feasable until the iPhone's security is proven.

 

[Flhusky]

Why? Because IT people are basically lazy and don't want to learn anything new. Someone has convinced them that the Blackberry's are more secure than the iphone. Everyone is worried about their little corporate secrets getting out.

-1 to the forum troll, but I'll bite.

IT people don't want to learn? Holly shiat dude, our job is constant learning. We have to learn to clean up the mess YOU made installing smiley central or XP 2008 anti virus or some other app you downloaded off the interwebz.

No, no one convinced us that BB's are more secure then iPhones. BBs are more secure at this time.

I can't speak for others here, but we have TLA`s hanging over us all the time. SOX, ITAR are almost always brought up no matter what. Then toss in dealing with foreign gov`t and business and something like a business trip to 'press the flesh' turns into a 2 day prep and documentation adventure.

 

[lordhamster]

Why? Because IT people are basically lazy and don't want to learn anything new. Someone has convinced them that the Blackberry's are more secure than the iphone. Everyone is worried about their little corporate secrets getting out.

I do IT consulting for a living. In little mickey mouse businesses it does not matter what people use because support is manageable. However when you are talking about thousands of employees world-wide. Do you really want to be spending extra time/money/effort to support every nitwit who wants to use his own preferred phone?

Remember IT is a part of a business. Why would that business want to spend extra money it does not need to supporting the whims of a few users? Seriously? If you use an iphone, more power to you, but you get to pay for it with your own dime. If you want the company to pay for it and support you, you'll have the standard blackberry. End of discussion.

 

[dccorona]

does your company use exchange?
they might be using lotusnotes, which is what my dads uses
so it doesn't work with iPhone YET
theyre working on making it do that though

 

[djrobsd]

You're right of course in the fact that i haven't taken the time and oportunity to get fully used to it as i barely use it....

But some general points..

3. Its just a dull device and the fact you can't charge the device over USB WIHTOUT installing the 80mb blackberry management software is just idiotic.

You won't change my mind on this device .... i just don't like it ... more the fact that i don't know why our company even bothered to give thousands of users blackberries to be just a phone+sms device

Well you can't charge the iPhone without the device driver installed either, and really to install that you have to install the 56 meg itunes... So not much better on that front.

 

[dauerhippo]

I have no idea how to help, but I just wanted to comment, that I really wish people would stop personally judging every damn thing an OP says or does. She didn't say that using it for buisness was a "justification" for buying the iPhone, and whoever is telling her that her husband could get fired for pushing the issue - HTF do you know that? You have no idea what company he works for, and what their policies are and how much they care about this sort of thing.

Just answer people's questions, if you know how, and if not, just stop with this BS judgmental holier-than-thou crap! It gets old and irritating to read.

 

[meagain]

Can I ask why you'd even purchase a phone that you'd want to use on a company network in the first place, if you weren't sure whether or not the company would support it? That seems kind of silly to me. Sounds more like "I want a new toy" syndrome than someone wanting it for business purposes.

We got our 1st gen iPhones at launch a year ago. We upgraded our iPhones to 3g. Everything was fine till the company was sold recently and decided to do this Blackberry thing a few days ago where husband was told he'd be given a BB.

Dauerhippo is right. It's not a case of assumption or being stupid on our part. It's a case of a changeover.

Husband is traveling but I'm gleaning they don't support ActiveSync. Maybe. He left me a message yesterday asking me to research some service? where one can port or trick the system to dump everything to the iPhone. The company is not big (IMO) but has gotten bigger with the acquisition thing.

"IF" he can't afford a change/tweak to fully allow the iPhone - does anyone know what he might be referring to regarding porting or some type of service to use the iPhone? Even if it's a paid service? I'm frustrated at my lack of knowledge on this but must figure it out ASAP.

 

[slapppy]

We got our 1st gen iPhones at launch a year ago. We upgraded our iPhones to 3g. Everything was fine till the company was sold recently and decided to do this Blackberry thing a few days ago where husband was told he'd be given a BB.

Dauerhippo is right. It's not a case of assumption or being stupid on our part. It's a case of a changeover.

Husband is traveling but I'm gleaning they don't support ActiveSync. Maybe. He left me a message yesterday asking me to research some service? where one can port or trick the system to dump everything to the iPhone. The company is not big (IMO) but has gotten bigger with the acquisition thing.

"IF" he can't afford a change/tweak to fully allow the iPhone - does anyone know what he might be referring to regarding porting or some type of service to use the iPhone? Even if it's a paid service? I'm frustrated at my lack of knowledge on this but must figure it out ASAP.

Good question. I don't know of anything that will do that with BES. Its why RIM is gaining share and not losing. They are locking up the business/enterprise market. I have some friends who's companies are shutting down Activesync and going BES only.....

 

[kdarling]

Why? Because IT people are basically lazy and don't want to learn anything new. Someone has convinced them that the Blackberry's are more secure than the iphone. Everyone is worried about their little corporate secrets getting out.

These days, it's not trade secrets, but their customers' information that requires all the security.

I do contract work building enterprise field apps, and we have to jump through some hoops (and avoid some cool techniques) to make sure that customer information doesn't fall into outside hands.

 

[BeyondtheTech]

I work at a place where the Windows network admin is an Apple hater. I guess I'm just a lowly help desk tech and an admitted Apple fanboy. Our boss is a Linux guy. You can imagine the slew of emails going back and forth when Windows Phone 7 bombs or Apple has some security hole, and every once in a while, we'll hear a splash of Linux that won't make much sense or care to either one of us.

Yet, you can see his the contempt in his face when suits in my company bring in an iPad and says to him, "Make this work. Log me into VPN. I want my mail."

We have BlackBerries and a BES here. I've even pitched the Good service to them, but they want total control of the device. Why, considering everything is sandboxed on the iPhone? Go ask the Apple hater, he's guaranteed to make some obscure case against it.

I guess that's okay. I get paid to deal with stupid Windows problems at work, and when I get home to my Mac network, I can actually live my life without those stresses.

 

[Kebabselector]

It's a 2 year old thread btw.

Updated by someone looking promote their signature.

 

[BeyondtheTech]

It's a 2 year old thread btw.

Updated by someone looking promote their signature.

Don't look at me, someone posted a couple hours earlier. I just wanted to rant.

 

[Kebabselector]

Don't look at me, someone posted a couple hours earlier. I just wanted to rant.

No problems, it was the now deleted spam post I was referring too

 

[Geckotek]

Hahahaha, glad someone pointed out the 2 year old thread thing. Being a messaging admin supporting both BES and iPhones, I was about to go on a rage! LOL

Oh, I'm about to go on a rage removing Android's from our ActiveSync access. The whole apps stealing data thing didn't sit well with our IT Risk dept.

 

[alent1234]

I work at a place where the Windows network admin is an Apple hater. I guess I'm just a lowly help desk tech and an admitted Apple fanboy. Our boss is a Linux guy. You can imagine the slew of emails going back and forth when Windows Phone 7 bombs or Apple has some security hole, and every once in a while, we'll hear a splash of Linux that won't make much sense or care to either one of us.

Yet, you can see his the contempt in his face when suits in my company bring in an iPad and says to him, "Make this work. Log me into VPN. I want my mail."

We have BlackBerries and a BES here. I've even pitched the Good service to them, but they want total control of the device. Why, considering everything is sandboxed on the iPhone? Go ask the Apple hater, he's guaranteed to make some obscure case against it.

I guess that's okay. I get paid to deal with stupid Windows problems at work, and when I get home to my Mac network, I can actually live my life without those stresses.

you can jailbreak an iphone and do things like disable the forcing of inputting a PIN to unlock the device.

and you have a lot of idiots downloading customer data into excel or access and then emailing the attachments. if the phone gets lost then it's a lot of potential liability especially because the most whiny people are the last ones to call IT to remotely wipe their phone.

a lot of us have to go through HIPAA and other audits which is why things are locked down

and at least on Exchange 2003 the remote ActiveSync management is a separate license. and the iphone is still a management nightmare. you need a computer with iTunes and an iTunes store account to update the OS and apps

 

[santie321]

luckily my co fully supports the iPhone .. after using a BB for years I couldnt wait to switch. nice to have the device paid for as well as the cell bill too. advantages of working for a co with a 45B market cap.