Apple Points To Rising iPhone Use In The Enterprise

Tempering the heady talk of iPhone’s betrothal to the enterprise is a report from independent industry analyst Jack Gold.

The analyst wrote in a 13 January research note that many enterprise users are getting pushback from IT departments that are restricting and preventing the use of iPhones. However, security, manageability and cost aren’t necessarily always the sticking points.

“Few IT groups will offer to support a new device (iPhone in this case, but any new device like Android or netbooks) without a significant amount of pressure being exerted from its end-user community. And, as was the case with BlackBerry in the early days of its adoption, if the end users can find a way around the restrictions limiting the use of the technology, they will. So one of the key issues for broader iPhone adoption is: Will the end users find a way to circumvent the IT infrastructure and use the device anyway?”

Gold believes the market is a full year away from fully sanctioned deployments in most enterprises, and once that happens, RIM’s BlackBerry devices may see a slow decline.