One of many new features that came with the iPhone OS 3.0, was that the IPhone should now be ready for the business market. With improved PIM functionality, true push and better integration with Exchange all of the needs for the professional user should be taken care of – that just #fail!
Iphone is business #fail
Basic PIM functionality is something that exists in every device there is that is used by the semi-professional mobile user.
What the current professional mobility user want and need access to, is access to their business back-end systems. They want to fill out their time sheets, access CRM data. They want to access service documents out in the field and have access to sales and stock data.
On the IPhone you will never be able to get this!
What company would sponsor or would want to develop an IPhone client for a legacy business back-end that has to be submitted to Apple for review? And then be made freely downloaded from the AppStore for anyone?
- No one! So by the mobility needs, and standards of today the iPhone is quite useless in a business mobility strategy and as we know Apple; They develop consumer solutions, not business solutions. That is how it has been since 1984, and that is how it is going to continue. The only way to get business productivity tools on the device would be if jail-breaking the phone was made an legal standard option, giving you access to alternative software sources.
August 25th, 2009 at 00:37
This is just plain wrong, and a testament of bad research from the author.
Read this document to learn more about iPhone in an enterprise setting, as well as how you can distribute apps internally without going through the App Store: http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/Enterprise_Deployment_Guide.pdf
This is a well-known feature of the iPhone Developer Program, and has been available since 2.0, so I wonder why the auther has not picked up on this before?
August 25th, 2009 at 09:19
In a sense of enterprise; distributing applications “securly” to user so they can install it through iTunes doesn’t really count and work in a enterprise mobility stragegy. I’d be more close to call it a “hack” or workaround. OTA (Over The Air) device management with software distribution and provisioning is a key factor for success in a mobile strategy and until Apple releases such tools I still say #fail.