…a specific collection of software on the mobile device itself, but have no real way of preventing an employee from going home and adding what they like to the phone.
However, small businesses don't have the same strict security and manageability requirements as larger enterprises, allowing them to move forward with iPhones more quickly than the big companies. Independent observers of the small-business market are seeing more and more demand for iPhones among such customers, who fly under the radar individually but could add up to significant revenue for Apple.
Shift in smartphone usage
There's also a sense inside some corporations that times are changing as mobile phones become computers that aren't either just for business or just for fun. Executives and salespeople — the primary users of mobile computers in the enterprise — are constantly on the go, and an executive waiting for an plane who pauses a video to answer an email from a client is a productive, accessible and satisfied employee.
"Other devices are just hardcore email devices, and even at that they don't render the messages well," Sonnenschein's Jurcyzk said. "I travel a lot and it's nice to have a personal aspect to my life, to look at photos of the family, to listen to music or watch a movie. It's nice to have that other stuff."
Apple's not the only company adapting to that shift in the use of mobile computers. "The new BlackBerry Storm… brings a lot of the iPhone design and features to the BlackBerry platform. Assuming the device works as advertised, we'll likely offer that as an option for our folks who want those types of features," Gillman said. Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer has also said similar things about the need for future versions of Windows Mobile to cater to both personal and business tasks.
Before too long, businesses might decide that certain trade-offs regarding the manageability of their smartphones are worth making, so long as their concerns over security are met. Analysts expect Apple to improve the native security of the iPhone over the next several years, and it's also possible that a major third-party enterprise-software vendor, such as SAP, will step forward with a product that does it for Apple.
Well over 200 business-related applications are available on the App Store that help make the iPhone easier to use in a corporate setting. If Apple finds a way to improve the security profile of the iPhone to allow organisations to develop custom applications that store sensitive data on the device, the company will have another feather in its cap.
Still, J Gold Associates has predicted that just 16 percent of US corporations will have an active interest in the iPhone in three years. The iPhone isn't going to put RIM out of business just yet. But Apple is challenging RIM on its home turf, just as RIM doubles its efforts to make the BlackBerry more consumer-friendly with models like the Storm and the Bold. The iPhone is also making everyone more aware of the trade-offs and needs of mobile computer users in the enterprise, which will make everyone's product better in the long run.
If Apple proves itself as an enterprise-friendly company with the iPhone, those famously staid chief information officers might also be tempted to take a second look at the Mac.
