INBOX:BY ALL accounts the Apple iPhone has beguiled many a consumer, wowed by its iPod features, big screen, web browser and ground-breaking interface.
Business people locked into text-ridden little screens but requiring constant access to e-mail and documentation on the go have been increasingly lured by the iPhone's multi-tasking capabilities. Until recently, though, it was viewed as a frivolous consumer device, ill-suited to the hard-nosed business world. Well, now it looks like you'll be able to have your business-critical e-mail and calendaring on the iPhone as well. The launch last week of the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) and several enterprise features aimed at increasing corporate adoption of the device looks like being a good first step towards making the iPhone a viable option of businesses.
The enterprise features include support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, which provides secure push e-mail, contacts and calendars, and some "remote wipe" capabilities to ensure data on the phone isn't lost.
Apple also announced Cisco IPsec VPN for encrypted access to corporate networks. These changes could make the device more competitive with products such as the BlackBerry from Research in Motion (RIM), which is enormously popular in the enterprise market.
Scheduled for general release in June, the SDK will open up application development for the iPhone to outside developers. So although this announcement wasn't the BlackBerry killer some thought it might be, Apple is putting into the hands of programmers tools to create the kinds of business applications it hopes will make the iPhone as good at business as it is at pleasure.
The addition of the SDK and ActiveSync support will, according to some analysts, drive five million iPhone sales to corporate customers, but it's a gnat's bite in terms of the whole corporate market.
Currently Apple holds less than 2 per cent of the worldwide share of the corporate PC market. Some say, though, that the iPhone will do what the iPod did for Apple's Mac computers - create a "halo" effect, generating increasing sales of the Mac to complement the iPhone. Some analysts have noted that even a small percentage gain by the Mac in enterprise markets could help make up for any consumer market slowdowns.
Despite this, few are calling the iPhone a BlackBerry-killer just yet. Enterprise support does not equal a full-blown enterprise strategy. RIM has been investing for years in developing the kind of environment that businesses, obsessed with security, are at ease with. It won't be losing any sleep.
Even so, there are a lot of consumers who are also employees and many have not bought an iPhone till now because they can't get corporate e-mail on it. That could well change.
