1. Apple ships a software update the same day the hardware is released.
This is clearly indicative that Apple struggled to get the product to market on time. It's an old trick. Ship the product and hope that by the time it hits consumer's hands, you'll have a massive update available for download. After a few days of heavy usage, developers are blaming Apple when users complain of spurious application crashes. According to developers, it's not a problem with their application, but with new 2.0 firmware. The enterprise invests in quality. A rushed product will inevitably mean problems.
2. Apple's own update infrastructure isn't designed to handle the load.
Enterprises can't afford failure and on release day, Apple's activation system keels over. Apple knew exactly how many iPhones were available to be sold. They simply didn't architect their infrastructure to handle the known demand. This is not like some mom and pop website getting Slashdott'ed. While consumers couldn't activate their iPhone is one problem, it also affected all users trying to use the iTunes store. If an enterprise is dependent upon this infrastructure, then prepare yourselves for outages.
3. iPhone 2.0 firmware already hacked.
In fact it was hacked before it became officially released. This is all about compliance and homogeneity. While Apple fights to keep the iPhone locked for contractual and revenue reasons, the enterprise wants it locked for compliance. A system not to the IT common spec is considered a rogue device. Rogue devices cause increased workload and introduce security risks.
4. Enterprise customers get the bait and switch.
While I may be the viewed as the "iPhone hater", I still attempted to order an iPhone from my corporate AT&T wireless account manager. After weeks of receiving email pitches to place an order, we are told at 5pm Thursday night our account isn't eligible. But I could upgrade the account type. No thanks, that's lingo for "let me lock your company into a monthly commitment plan".
5. iPhone configuration utility not quite there yet
Along with Active Sync support, Apple also released the iPhone Configuration Utility. This is a reactive step forward for Apple. They seem to have realized that IT operations need centralized configuration and management tools even when it comes to smart phones. The problem for Apple is that it's a stepchild of a utility. The configuration product is a third party tool that has no integration points with Exchange, Active Directory or any other centralized enterprise infrastructure. Further, it exhibits Apple's failure to understand true policy compliance and enforcement because it requires IT to distribute configuration XML files in email or over the web. This is not policy enforcement, its policy inclination.
Comments (1)
As laid out by point...
1) The fact is that the product has been put through it's paces up until release time. Basically what you're implying is that every phone should be shipped with no security issues. Great -- except it's logistically impossible. And the fact is that the 3G shipped with the 2.0 image that is current. So your point is not very well iterated to begin with. The update was for users that had existing iPhones - not the new devices. Apple should have allowed existing users to upgrade before the release of the 3G, that is Apple's mistake. I think "the enterprise invests in quality" is BS anyway. The enterprise invests in what they need to get the job done -- quality is usually an afterthought, not that it's right, but to say they only invest in quality is rather naive.
2) Over 6 million old devices plus all of the new 3G iPhones were being activated all on the same day. The scope you miss is that it's tied to AT&T. A phone can't be activated without a backend transaction to AT&T. So, Apple may be partially to blame here, however AT&T is on the hook as well. Apple is a leader in this arena -- being able to update the device in a simple manner that's consistent across the platforms it supports. That's not the case for RIM or Windows Mobile.
3) This is probably one of the least in scope of all of your points. EVERY phone firmware is generally hacked if it's a device of interest. Obviously the iPhone has created a great following because of it's flexibility and hardware. It's very hard to put software on a device and keep that "secure" aside from data at rest. But with regards to a running OS and having physical access to that device means that the probability of hacking it is very high. Again, a very naive perspective.
4) It's a different level of service. And that is an AT&T issue. So, what you're implying is that when cable modem came to the masses that you should be paying your dial up rates because you already had that service? No, it doesn't work that way.
5) Really? Why does everything have to be an Exchange snap in? I understand most companies will be using the iPhone in an Exchange environment -- but aside from trying to sell a BES like server software, the application does what it needs to. What about VoIP? Pushing around XML configuration files to every phone. Same thing. It's how a lot of devices are automatically configured these days.
All in all the platform will only get better... I'm not sure the phone in the authors pocket is any more secure or any better at enterprise integration. Compare it to what's out there today and it's pretty much on par - and better with regard to many aspects - but yes, any new platform will have some caveats. Industry feedback helps iron those things out.
Posted by windexh8er | July 14, 2008 2:29 PM
Posted on July 14, 2008 14:29