I keep running across your comments, and I have to ask – do you work for RIM? You are arguing against iPhone as though the device is wholly terrible and as if there is no need for enterprises to look beyond RIM. Blackberry is a great device for what it was originally intended, but the market is telling us (IT departments included) that the iPhone offers something interesting. We ultimately have to acknowledge these trends. Instead of trying to refute iPhone at every turn, we should be asking HOW DO WE MAKE IT WORK? Companies like Trust Digital seem sensible to me. Whatever approach IT groups take, we'll do so based on discussions around HOW and not by burying our heads in the sand.

Beyond the trends, iPhone's App framework is solid. We have an increasingly robust array of capabilities to extend to our employees, and some of those are nothing short of compelling. Unlike my frustration with Windows Mobile, Apple's limitations on multi-threading give us great confidence in its basic security (add in encryption etc). ActiveSync doesn't offer the control we have from our BES, and we are looking at companies like Trust Digital and MobileIron because they approximate what BES gives us.

So Frank – be constructive here. You sound like an old friend of mine who still argues about why Frame Relay is better than TCP/IP. Whatever the arguments and however true/false – it's wasted breath. iPhone is a reality. iPhone also offers new possibilities. It has challenges, but we address them. That's what good IT organizations do. Get busy doing that, Frank.

Calvin

I keep running across your comments, and I have to ask – do you work for RIM? You are arguing against iPhone as though the device is wholly terrible and as if there is no need for enterprises to look beyond RIM. Blackberry is a great device for what it was originally intended, but the market is telling us (IT departments included) that the iPhone offers something interesting. We ultimately have to acknowledge these trends. Instead of trying to refute iPhone at every turn, we should be asking HOW DO WE MAKE IT WORK? Companies like Trust Digital seem sensible to me. Whatever approach IT groups take, we'll do so based on discussions around HOW and not by burying our heads in the sand.

Beyond the trends, iPhone's App framework is solid. We have an increasingly robust array of capabilities to extend to our employees, and some of those are nothing short of compelling. Unlike my frustration with Windows Mobile, Apple's limitations on multi-threading give us great confidence in its basic security (add in encryption etc). ActiveSync doesn't offer the control we have from our BES, and we are looking at companies like Trust Digital and MobileIron because they approximate what BES gives us.

So Frank – be constructive here. You sound like an old friend of mine who still argues about why Frame Relay is better than TCP/IP. Whatever the arguments and however true/false – it's wasted breath. iPhone is a reality. iPhone also offers new possibilities. It has challenges, but we address them. That's what good IT organizations do. Get busy doing that, Frank.

Calvin

I keep running across your comments, and I have to ask – do you work for RIM? You are arguing against iPhone as though the device is wholly terrible and as if there is no need for enterprises to look beyond RIM. Blackberry is a great device for what it was originally intended, but the market is telling us (IT departments included) that the iPhone offers something interesting. We ultimately have to acknowledge these trends. Instead of trying to refute iPhone at every turn, we should be asking HOW DO WE MAKE IT WORK? Companies like Trust Digital seem sensible to me. Whatever approach IT groups take, we'll do so based on discussions around HOW and not by burying our heads in the sand.

Beyond the trends, iPhone's App framework is solid. We have an increasingly robust array of capabilities to extend to our employees, and some of those are nothing short of compelling. Unlike my frustration with Windows Mobile, Apple's limitations on multi-threading give us great confidence in its basic security (add in encryption etc). ActiveSync doesn't offer the control we have from our BES, and we are looking at companies like Trust Digital and MobileIron because they approximate what BES gives us.

So Frank – be constructive here. You sound like an old friend of mine who still argues about why Frame Relay is better than TCP/IP. Whatever the arguments and however true/false – it's wasted breath. iPhone is a reality. iPhone also offers new possibilities. It has challenges, but we address them. That's what good IT organizations do. Get busy doing that, Frank.

Calvin

It's not like Blackberry is only doing push email, that was 2003. Chalk, a number of data intergrators (Antenna, Pyxis etc) as well LBS applications. Robost PBX extension, Enterprise IM, SAP, Concur and a growing number of enterprise platforms are extending to Blackberry. Sure iPhone will get some of this support but often with less functionality and importantly security. The issue is Apple won't provide the API's to control the device as needed and many applications require background processing (something Apple is against).

Why not – simple – Budget constraint and already having an established mobile solution. Apple treats enterprise as an afterthought. No roadmaps, no information on patches (3.0 started reporting about encryption properly and broke a lot of people's connection to Exchange). Who wants to upgrade their iPhone deployment every year to keep current? Enterprise is not about to wait around for just one more thing to figure out their next year's mobile strategy.

Does EMM provide encryption across all iPhones? What about bootloader modification – can you detect that / block jailbreak iPhones? What about application management – able to push / update applications made in house? For all financial firms there is a growing need to be compliant with 174A regulation around SMS/TXT – EMM able to help with that?

These solutions offer limited capability that for some company new to mobile email are suffient but are lacking compared to current BES deployments that have established multiple year deployment. I realize your limited by Apple's control issues and think this side needs a couple more years to improve to provide everything needed to be a true enterprise mobile solution.

It's not like Blackberry is only doing push email, that was 2003. Chalk, a number of data intergrators (Antenna, Pyxis etc) as well LBS applications. Robost PBX extension, Enterprise IM, SAP, Concur and a growing number of enterprise platforms are extending to Blackberry. Sure iPhone will get some of this support but often with less functionality and importantly security. The issue is Apple won't provide the API's to control the device as needed and many applications require background processing (something Apple is against).

Why not – simple – Budget constraint and already having an established mobile solution. Apple treats enterprise as an afterthought. No roadmaps, no information on patches (3.0 started reporting about encryption properly and broke a lot of people's connection to Exchange). Who wants to upgrade their iPhone deployment every year to keep current? Enterprise is not about to wait around for just one more thing to figure out their next year's mobile strategy.

Does EMM provide encryption across all iPhones? What about bootloader modification – can you detect that / block jailbreak iPhones? What about application management – able to push / update applications made in house? For all financial firms there is a growing need to be compliant with 174A regulation around SMS/TXT – EMM able to help with that?

These solutions offer limited capability that for some company new to mobile email are suffient but are lacking compared to current BES deployments that have established multiple year deployment. I realize your limited by Apple's control issues and think this side needs a couple more years to improve to provide everything needed to be a true enterprise mobile solution.

So why not create an environment that supports both? I can’t speak for our competition but price is not the issue, since Trust Digital EMM pricing is similar to BES. EMM is an enterprise console, decoupled from the Exchange messaging platform, allowing IT to support the iPhone with a variety of email platforms and non email applications. This enables IT to match the user with the device that makes them productive and happy while still complying with corporate policies.

Not all companies are ready for this, but everyday we see more IT organization that can no longer just call itself a “BlackBerry shop” as their iPhone pilot moves to full production and users have the choice of both devices.

Apple tries to stem these security flaws by releasing a new baseband (which I'm sure EMM can spot check like other solutions in this vertical). Trouble is its already been broken (again). Apple's biggest risk is the community that adores it.

These solutions are sorely needed but at what cost? The per device CAL is often more and you have less control then BES. How does this cost work if your insane enough to allow personal liable? IT pick up that tab / users? What if they leave do you refund them?

For any real traction this space needs to settle down from the consumer explosion as business see the interest but the bulk is not business related at all. Consumer growth will outpace enterprise in this space by tenfold.

Enterprise Apps require security and right now Apple's is questionable at best. Huge difference between a Find a Starbucks app and intergration with your customer portfolio information.