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- chalkboy, on 12/14/2007, -79/+205You only need one reason.
1. The real world does not use Apple. - JasonCox, on 12/14/2007, -15/+86The first and foremost reason:
Business have a hard time justifying buying their sales staff a $400 dollar cell phone that contains less than half the features of competitive Windows, Linux, etc smartphones. - mehan, on 12/14/2007, -23/+84apple = entertainment
blackberry = business - al28p, on 12/14/2007, -7/+5911. It's got a YouTube app.
- inactive, on 12/14/2007, -8/+54You've obviously never worked in big business IT, because all of those are huge issues. Especially when there's much better alternatives already in place (i.e. the Blackberry).
- cliffzdude, on 12/14/2007, -1/+39Reason # 1; iPhone has no centralized management. I'm an Apple fan, and a Linux fan, and Windows fan. I'd use an iPhone if I didn't admin our BlackBerry infrastructure for a living. The comments here today prove beyond a shadow of a doubt very few here are email admins, or even professionals who work in IT. The BlackBerry handsets aren't the best out there, the iPhone is a superior handset. Period. If RIM came out with an iPhone that attached to our BES server, I'd buy one with my personal $$$. But, they won't. So that's a pie in the sky thought.
If you understand what I can do on my Blackberry Enterprise Server, you'd not skoff at what BlackBerry has done for business.
First off, lets talk policies. I have different groups set up with different policies. Encryption? Required, and no you can't "hack" this. If you do, the device can't will be wiped automatically. Lost device? No problemo, I can send a command to lock the handheld, reset the password to an ungodly length, and wipe it, all with one click. Oh, it'll scrub the FS as well. Or I can just lock the handheld, its up to me. More policies, I can set minimum password length, require strong passwords, require they be reset every "X" days, and so on. I can set if blue-tooth is enabled or locked out. I can lock a device from being used as a data modem, or allow such. I can set if the little red light blinks while on a voice call. I can set medium, or extremely levels of fs encryption. I can set for password pattern checks, so if you like to just change your password a little bit, it'll 86 that password. I can allow the carrier's browser, or not. I can set the internal browser (goes through our proxy, on our internal network) to a lite home-page. I can set the unit to "self destruct" if it doesn't say HI to the server for X days. I can lock out the serial port. I can disallow 3rd party apps, or just disallow them to use data services. I can set PGP to work, just like it does on an exchange client. All the while pushing and pulling data that is ALL stored on our exchange server. Lose your BlackBerry? No issue, when I activate your replacement everything is there, just like it was yesterday on your old unit. I can lock out java script. Disallow it from connecting to any desktop, require encryption for the MicroSd card, or simply lock out MicroSD card access all together.
On, and on, and on. All from within a group policy. My executive users have a different policy set from our general business users.
The BlackBerry can be set to meet DOD standards for security, right out of the box. Sure i could do many of these things with a kluged together setup, but with Blackberry Enterprise Server its all working, out of the box, with 24/7 support. I don't just administer our BES server for a living, like many professional IT geeks I also admin servers, and IP phone systems, and support high level executive users, and deploy wireless infrastructure, and so on, and so on. My time is valuable to my company, so the cost of our BES server, and licenses is a bargain vs. another FTE, just to make the iPhone almost, kinda work with our infrastructure, or any other handset for that matter.
Unless you walk a mile in my shoes, installing, deploying, managing, and supporting a large number of wireless handset users you really are talking out of your ass. - limeaid, on 12/14/2007, -2/+401 - Push email is everything - this is why most of use blackberry/rim servers - how do you wireless sync address books/contacts/calendars over IMAP/SMTP? SHOW STOPPER
2 - The ability to switch out batteries is cruicial - most execs travel with multiples just so they can switch out - no time to charge
3 - the big one they didn't mention was no 3G tethering capability - our 8830's can provide broadband connections anywhere we have a good cell signal
I'm right there with you - I wish i had one to play with but it has no place in corporate world yet - streak, on 12/14/2007, -69/+1039 of 10 NON-issues for IT:
1. native push of business e-mail - just a configuration matter for IT
2. no 3rd party apps - some IT departments would consider this a security FEATURE; official Apple SDK is due in 2 months.
3. no encryption - 1Password supports timed-access, password-protected encryption
5. virtual keyboard takes 5 days to acclimate - people don't switch smart phones every 5 days
6. locked to service provider - in the U.S., most phones sold are locked
7. premium price tag - iPhone unlimited data plan is half the price ($20/mo) of the $40/mo unlimited plans for all other smart phones sold by AT&T and Verizon, making the iPhone effectively FREE
8. first generation - even at version 1.0, iPhone is more reliable than the competition
9. non-replaceable battery - iPhone battery lasts up to twice as long as the "competition", no extra-cost battery is required nor is the extra inconvenience of carrying and maintaining a charged backup battery necessary
10. lacks case studies - what a great opportunity for free publicity! and enterprise-wide deployment is completely unnecessary to establish high value of the iPhone for business applications. - Makisupa, on 12/14/2007, -7/+41I can't believe people are actually defending the iPhone for corporate use. I admit the iPhone is cooler as a personal phone, but you can't compare it to a blackberry for business needs.
- kevinmoore, on 06/13/2009, -7/+41IMAP is the opposite of push e-mail. It's decidedly a "pull" technology. Also, neither IMAP or SMTP have anything to do with syncing calendar data. Nice try!
- rdhaag, on 12/14/2007, -33/+62Most of these have nothing to do with why IT won't support it.
- JoeDiggsIt, on 12/14/2007, -3/+31Both of you = bad at insults
- inactive, on 12/14/2007, -12/+40Like it or not, it is true. My roommate graduated from a high school that only used Macs. Thankfully, he anticipated for this and is much better off than his colleagues. What the hell is the point of teaching you how to use a computer that only 5 percent of the market uses? And most of that goes to the a few select household individuals and digital art.
- inactive, on 12/14/2007, -30/+56Who in business would take a ***** iPhone when they could have a Blackberry? The iPhone is a showy, overpriced piece of ***** designed for hipsters and Apple fanboys. People who actually want to get ***** done in the real world get a Blackberry.
- pruppert, on 12/14/2007, -5/+29Add to the list that it doesn't support PEAP authentication for WIFI.
I wish Apple would add it in a future update so I can use it at school. - CSharpSauce, on 12/14/2007, -8/+32Wow who would have thought that a phone targeted to a consumer would not be ideal for a corporate customer?
- PATSCRU, on 12/14/2007, -7/+29well you can rock out to your mom's credit card all you want, some of us have jobs though. You've seen one too many ipod ads to realize that some people don't have the time to just dance.
- Dedpoet, on 12/14/2007, -2/+24A corporate IT department can't simply just decide to "support" every single device that comes out because a user buys one. I go through this every single January. Everyone will come to my office on January 2nd with whatever cool tech gadget they got for Christmas and want me to install the software / hook it up to their machine / set up their mail account to sync to it / tell them where they can download free music / come to their house during lunch to set it up.
Those who think that all I have to do to "run an IMAP server" is flip a switch have never worked in a multi-national corporate environment. If I decided to "run an IMAP server" without going through an approval process, extensive testing process, and some sort of security audit, just because a sales manager got an iPhone for Christmas, I'd be out on the street by lunch time. - locojones, on 12/14/2007, -3/+24Setting up your mom's router doesn't count as a business network.
- inactive, on 12/14/2007, -3/+24HTML email? We're talking about business here.....we're not talking about you and you're cute little HTML emails from worthless websites. No one sends ***** HTML email in the corporate world. And correct me if I'm wrong but I think the iPhone's data plan is more than $10 a month. Not to mention the fact that most employers will cover your blackberry data plan.
So go ahead and browse the web and receive your ***** HTML emails on your iPhone. The rest of us will be actually getting ***** done with a device that has no need for that kind of fluff. - antoniuk, on 12/14/2007, -13/+33This list is inaccurate at best. The real reason is it does not support 3g, non native windows support, no exchange ota support worth a damn and the arrogance of those stupid i'm a mac commercials. give it active sync support, native office support, better than edge speeds and a self service replaceable battery and it will get IT support
- drakenlot, on 12/14/2007, -4/+23You obviously don't work in IT, so you probably don't know how business works. Three simple words will sum it up nicely.
Time. Equals. Money.
Since I have a lot more stuff to do that's more important than getting an iPhone to work with Lotus Notes, I'd much rather go with a Blackberry, which is very easily configurable to Notes.
So please, at least have a job before talking business. - Chompy, on 12/14/2007, -1/+20Well no, he just made all of that up.
- rheaume, on 12/14/2007, -1/+18Paint it white, throw on a turtleneck and buy a 6$ coffee from Starbucks and youve got the Apple experience.
- cliffzdude, on 12/14/2007, -0/+17Fortunately the business world doesn't equate IT infrastructure buying decisions based upon what you think looks pretty.
- Makisupa, on 12/14/2007, -1/+18Who cares that the battery lasts longer. When you are working an 80 hour week and forget to charge your phone, it's much easier to have spare battery in your desk and one in your laptop bag.
- Digibull, on 12/14/2007, -0/+16Keep in mind that IT support is also about concern for company security. Supporting a device which you can't wipe remotely in the event that it is lost or stolen is a huge security risk. For that reason alone, let alone all the others, I wouldn't roll it out. I'm an IT admin and most of those reasons are valid reasons for why I wouldn't give any of my users a phone with those aspects... regardless of the manufacturer.
- indyGuy, on 12/14/2007, -1/+17A replacement battery should be swappable by a non-IT person. Have you seen the videos showing you how to replace an iPhone battery? It's not as easy as "open battery compartment, remove old battery, replace with new battery, close compartment, turn phone back on". It needs to be.
- nitsnipe, on 12/14/2007, -8/+24How about just because the iPhone sort of symbolizes the idiotly rebellious sons and daughters of IT managers.
- jmreid, on 12/14/2007, -4/+20They did? considering you used 3rd party apps that aren't there by default?
- limeaid, on 12/14/2007, -2/+17can you buy a second battery and carry it around - this is the point
- DrMickhead, on 12/14/2007, -0/+15The greatest competition in this case is RIM, not Microsoft. Just because someone attacks Apple doesn't mean you can crawl into a ball and cry out "Bill Gates is unfair!"
- CSharpSauce, on 12/14/2007, -4/+19no.. because Microsoft made software is good and innovative. Take for instance the .NET framework, it is absolutely amazing how much more productive a programmer can be.
- Chompy, on 12/14/2007, -2/+17I'll take a #2, with a Dr. Pepper.
- inactive, on 12/14/2007, -6/+21Are you kidding? Find me a good sized corporation that uses all Macs and I'll find you 500 that don't.
- ewok85a, on 12/14/2007, -1/+15Some of the reasons are null, but some are valid - look at the most successful business smart phone in existance (the Blackberry) and the reasons are clear; Email push, remote lock/wipe, encryption, removable battery, corporate discounts.
Add to that support, service level guarantees, global roaming, etc and theres plenty of reasons why iPhone is not being snapped up by companies. - thetipster, on 12/14/2007, -10/+24Apple lovers should not be surprised by this. Apple did not target the iPhone for business use, they designed it for the regular gum chewing, hair twirling consumer.
"this is where I want you to touch" - mharroun, on 12/14/2007, -0/+14Yes.. lets forward company e-mails to some off site server...and completely compromise security so that we can all use iphones! YAY! I hope to god the company who hired you does not have any important information.
- streak, on 12/14/2007, -3/+17No need to knock business. People use high technology items all the time to help promote their own business.
- adml_shake, on 12/14/2007, -0/+14Your company isn't paying you to sit at your desk and watch youtube videos , if you want an Iphone on your own time fine more power to you. But if your company gives you a blackberry and you accept it, then that means you are on call at all times. I'm sure when your boss tries to reach you he will be very interested in why you have your cell phone shut off, have fun explaining that one at your next review.
- phoomp, on 12/14/2007, -1/+14Why is it that Apple fanboys start name calling the competition?
- DrMickhead, on 12/14/2007, -4/+17"Why don't you take a look at most boardrooms in businesses..."
Ok, I will. I guarantee there are exactly zero business that use "nearly all" Mac computers. Oh yeah, college campus is the "real world." Keep dreaming, mom and dad will be paying your tuition your whole life. - Cerebral, on 12/14/2007, -1/+13Finally someone who can actually support the argument here. I'm with you whole heartedly on this.
- mehan, on 12/14/2007, -1/+12lol @ "It offers SMS, a quick way to contact other mobile phone users, and voice mail -- both useful to road warriors"
they're making it sound like SMS is something so new and exciting - freehunter, on 12/14/2007, -1/+12Honestly, college is not the real world. I'm a university student and I recognize that, things that fly on college campuses usually are completely different in the real world, such as "let's hope this works" tech support, "it'll be back up tomorrow" server admins, and as you brought up, teaching anything but graphic design on a Mac. The business world uses PCs, Windows, and Blackberry, unless it is a Linux/Unix server, which is not as common as you might think (but still very common).
- drakenlot, on 12/14/2007, -0/+11So what do the words boardrooms and businesses mean then?
- Chompy, on 12/14/2007, -5/+16No, that isn't the problem. The iPhone is form over function, and business users value function over form.
- shark615, on 12/14/2007, -4/+15Get a clue.
- shark615, on 12/14/2007, -1/+11Right forwarding internal emails to a yahoo account. Good idea. You ***** fail and if you truly are a sys admin I hope you get hit by a truck and save people the hassle when your idiotic practices expose their personal info to the world.
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