iPhone News Updated

iPhone 3G is still not perfect for enterprise use

iPhone 3G is still not perfect for enterprise use

With the announcement of 3G iPhone and SDK improvements next month there are still some hooks to use iPhone in the enterprise world.

One of the problems is App Store software distribution methods. Companies need to obtain digital certificates from Apple, and then use iTunes to distribute them for the individuals.

Such direct-connect synchronization plan left some IT managers such as Vivek Kundra, chief technology officer for the District of Columbia, looking for more options from Apple.

He said that $199 device is “a lot more palatable for the enterprise.“ However he is skeptical that relying on iTunes for distributing applications will work on a large scale. “Right now, using iTunes to download is fine with us,” he said. “But when iPhone [use] scales to thousands of units, I want to push software to users wirelessly.”

Manjit Singh, CIO at Chiquita Brands International said “I don’t want to be carrier-locked [to AT&T], and I don’t want to be forced to distribute apps via iTunes,”. He then added that adding internally developed app on iTunes is not realistic.

It is still unknown how such applications will be distributed for iPhone users.

Other concerns for iPhone are that you need to mail device to Apple to get a battery replacement. No enterprise tech-support from Apple, management and security tools are still not as powerful as Blackberry and other rivals.

Thanks: ComputerWorld