iPhone OS 3.0 - still not Enterprise ready
Great new features for geeks, but none for companies
After reading Ian Thains blog about the business readiness of the iPhone (at http://blogs.sybase.com/ithain/?p=953), I thought about this topic as well.
While Ian thinks that the iPhone OS 3.0 update is a big step towards enterprise adoption of the iPhone, I have a different opinion.
Where are the killer features for enterprise users?
- Copy and Paste? I hardly missed it
- MMS? You must be kidding me, right? Sending SMS and MMS is a technology of the last millennium - email can do that 100% better.
- Push? That is interesting, but this push implementation? Always going via an Apple server? With important business data? I doubt that companies will like that ...
- EMail and Notes in landscape mode? It was about time that this was introduced ...
The development side also comes with limitations:
- How many good and experienced Objective C/Cocoa Touch developers are out there? Enough to come up with 50 000 fart applications ... but how many of them have experience in designing business critical applications for enterprises? Now look at the number of Java and C# developers - do you see the difference?
- The development environment sucks! That is at least my opinion. I love Eclipse, I can work with Visual Studio - but XCode is horrible!
- Where are the enterprise frameworks that support the iPhone? I don't always start from scratch. Sybase wants to deliver a CRM application for SAP that is based on their SUP platform. If the dev tools that allow such a development are available, we have one solution that supports the iPhone. One! The good thing is that SUP is the best mobile platform I have seen so far, but still. The choice for enterprises is very limited.
Don't get me wrong - I love the iPhone! I think I would not be able to live without one anymore. And for me it is my business phone. I also love the new features, especially the Spotlight search and the landscape mode for email. But for large companies? I'm sorry Ian, but I think Apple still has a long way to go before mass-adoption of the iPhone in enterprises will happen.
Re: iPhone OS 3.0 - still not Enterprise ready
Alexander
Thanks for your comment on my blog http://blogs.sybase.com/ithain and feedback via your blog. Of course I agree with you that those features would not rate for Enterprise adoption, mainly I'm commenting on the wave that seems to be sweeping the device into the hands of business and the work that other companies like Sybase are doing to support it and to make it so. Other OS 3.0 features such as the MobileMe device location and device remote wiping also will be interesting to the consumer and smaller Enterprises, though obviously there will be more Enterprise solutions. Then along with the iPhone3G S launch on Friday comes on device hardware encryption.
Keep up the blogging
Ian
Thanks for your comment on my blog http://blogs.sybase.com/ithain and feedback via your blog. Of course I agree with you that those features would not rate for Enterprise adoption, mainly I'm commenting on the wave that seems to be sweeping the device into the hands of business and the work that other companies like Sybase are doing to support it and to make it so. Other OS 3.0 features such as the MobileMe device location and device remote wiping also will be interesting to the consumer and smaller Enterprises, though obviously there will be more Enterprise solutions. Then along with the iPhone3G S launch on Friday comes on device hardware encryption.
Keep up the blogging
Ian
Re: iPhone OS 3.0 - still not Enterprise ready
Hi
In my experience, most enterprise IT managers opt for cheaper and easily replaceable devices. The iPhone does not fall into either of these categories (as I write I find it is currently out of stock at the UK's largest supplier due to unprecedented demand).
Hence cost & supply might be the deciding factors in most organisations
Ratna