Najjar, L. (2009). iPhone apps for the enterprise. Submitted
to TandemSeven.com Insights Blog.
Lawrence Najjar
Since its introduction in June of 2007, the Apple iPhone has experienced explosive growth in popularity. Worldwide iPhone market share grew 246% from 2007 to 2008 and the iPhone is currently the third most popular smartphone (Gartner: Apple iPhone Market Share, 2009). In the United States, the iPhone is already the second most popular corporate smartphone (Carton, 2008b) and has the highest customer satisfaction ratings (J.D. Power and Associates Reports, 2008).
Why? iPhone owners love the smooth integration of phone, Internet browsing, and iPod functions (Carton, 2008a), the ability to view documents (Nusca, 2009), and the easy-to-use touch screen user interface. As a result, iPhone owners are bringing their phones to work and asking IT to integrate enterprise functions to improve the owners' mobile work productivity (Pelino, 2008).
With the launch of the Apple iPhone App Store and the Apple Enterprise Program (iPhone in Enterprise - Enterprise Integration, n.d.), enterprises can create customized, lightweight, and rich iPhone app user interfaces for their employees. Enterprise apps are lightweight because the business logic and complexity are stored off the phone in corporate servers (Intunity iPhone Apps, n.d.). They are rich because the apps can use the large, full color, touch sensitive iPhone screen, a maps function (for example, to track the locations of corporate assets), an accelerometer to add phone movement in user interfaces, and the iPhone's assisted global positioning system to show a current location (iPhone in Enterprise - Overview, n.d.).
Employees can get secure access to their company networks using VPN client software, 802.11x authentication, and Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) standards. A company can require employees to use complex passwords to access the iPhone and can wipe the iPhone contents clean when a security policy is violated - comforting if the employee's iPhone is lost or stolen (Lomas, 2008) or the employee leaves the company (Hamblen, 2009b).
Well-known companies are creating helpful enterprise iPhone apps. The Oracle Business Indicators app (Oracle Business Indicators, n.d.) allows employees to get alerts and updates, such as missed sales goals, sent to their iPhones. Salesforce.com's Salesforce Mobile (iPhone Navigation on the World's Most Powerful Mobile CRM Platform, n.d.) lets employees access their companies' Salesforce databases to get information on accounts, contacts, and leads. Cisco's WebEx (Tap Into Your Next Cisco WebEx Meeting, n.d.) allows employees to schedule, join, and participate in company remote desktop sharing teleconference meetings. Finally, a mysterious little firm called Jugaari sells the very popular Jaadu VNC (Jaadu VNC, n.d.) that, with a little technical savvy, lets a mobile employee control a work computer or servers from an iPhone.
Using the iPhone for mobile enterprise apps can actually lower costs because users often purchase their own phones and wireless service and are more likely to take better care of their phones, reducing costs to replace lost, damaged, or stolen phones. By moving to iPhones with combined voice and data plans, one company saved $360 per year on each iPhone (Hamblen, 2009a). Plus, enterprise iPhone users may be happier because they can use their own phones instead of phones forced on them by their companies (iPhones Found More "Enterprise" Ready than Blackberry, n.d.).
Customized iPhone apps are ready for the enterprise and are a great way to improve the productivity and satisfaction of mobile employees.
References
Carton, P. (2008a, April 29). iPhone vs. Blackberry: Which do consumers love most? Retrieved from http://blog.changewave.com/2008/04/top_apple_blackberry_likes_dislikes.html
Carton, P. (2008b, November 20). A historic collapse in U.S. corporate IT spending. Retrieved from http://blog.changewave.com/2008/11/it_spending_smartphone_market.html
Gartner: Apple iPhone smartphone market share more than doubled in fourth quarter 2008 (2009, March 11). Retrieved from http://www.macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/gartner_apple_iphone_smartphone_market_share_more_than_doubled_in_fourth_qu/
Hamblen, M. (2009a, April 13). iPhone corporate users happier, more productive Forrester says. Retrieved from http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9131495
Hamblen, M. (2009b, April 15). Owning an iPhone makes you "happier and more productive." Retrieved from http://www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/Home/News.asp?id=52795&PageMem=3
Intunity iPhone Apps (n.d.). Retrieved from http://67.23.8.140/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=2686979
iPhone in Enterprise - Enterprise Integration (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/iphone/enterprise/integration.html
iPhone in Enterprise - Overview (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/iphone/enterprise/
iPhone Navigation on the World's Most Powerful Mobile CRM Platform (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.salesforce.com/products/mobile/iPhone/
iPhones Found More "Enterprise" Ready than Blackberry, More Cost Efficient (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.iphonestalk.com/iphone-found-more-enterprise-ready-than-blackberry-more-cost-efficient/
J.D. Power and Associates Reports: iPhone manufacturer Apple ranks highest in business wireless smartphone customer satisfaction (2008, November 6). Retrieved from http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pressrelease.aspx?ID=2008240
Jaadu VNC (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.jaaduvnc.com/
Lomas, N. (2008, August 13). Gartner: iPhone 2.0 cuts business mustard. Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10016270-92.html?tag=mncol;txt
Nusca, A. (2009, April 15). Top 10 lessons for enterprise iPhone adoption. Retrieved from http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,1000000085,39640299,00.htm
Oracle Business Indicators (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.oracle.com/appserver/business-intelligence/business-indicators.html
Pelino, M. (2008, December 12). Predictions 2009: What's in store for enterprise mobility. Forrester. Retrieved from http://www.forrester.com/Research/Document/Excerpt/0,7211,42278,00.html
Tap Into Your Next Cisco WebEx Meeting - by tapping your iPhone (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.webex.com/iphone/