How CIOs learned to stop worrying and love the iPhone

Apple has captivated the general public with the iPhone, but has it convinced the business world to take the plunge?

Even after the March preview of the "business-friendly" iPhone 2.0 software for the iPhone released in July, it seems that most iPhones are being purchased by individuals rather than corporations, who still look first at Research In Motion's BlackBerry when it comes to equipping their workers with mobile computers.

But the iPhone is making a guerrilla attack on the business world, brought into the corporate world by influential executives, CIOs rethinking their approach to deploying technology, and younger workers who move seamlessly between their personal and business lives.

iPhone vs BlackBerry

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There are several high-profile businesses, such as Genentech and Disney (both with strong ties to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, of course), that have declared their intentions to work with Apple on deploying iPhones inside their corporations. That seems to be having the effect of increasing the overall number of business smartphone users, however, rather than turning the iPhone into any kind of "BlackBerry killer".

At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference in June, Jobs said 33 per cent of the Fortune 500 had participated in Apple's beta program for the iPhone 2.0 software. But RIM still dominates the market for mobile devices used for business purposes.

According to data from J. Gold Associates released in September, 65.5 per cent of North American businesses that deploy mobile computers say they actively support the BlackBerry, compared with 22 per cent that support Windows Mobile devices and just over 10 per cent that support the iPhone.

There is some overlap in those numbers, represented by companies such as Chicago law firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, a participant in Apple's beta program.

About half of CIO Andy Jurcyzk's 1,800 employees worldwide use some kind of mobile device, and at the moment, 200 of those people are using the iPhone 3G. Sonnenschein's employees who are deemed worthy of mobile computers can get the company to buy them a new mobile device every 24 months - provided that AT&T carries that device.

"My philosophy is that devices are personal, and it's difficult for organisations to standardise on a single device" given the wide range of preferences people have with mobile computers, Jurczyk said.

Not all organizations feel the same way, and have built up years of expertise managing the BlackBerry inside their walls. Frank Gillman, the CTO for Los Angeles law firm Allen Matkins, says there has been some interest in the iPhone among his constituents but he finds it more cost-effective to stay a BlackBerry shop.

"Our reasons for not doing so have more to do with the age-old issue of having a finite number of internal resources to support our firm's technology. Given our already significant investment in BlackBerry, we cannot make a strong business case for adopting yet another platform."

That's just part of the uphill battle the iPhone faces in the enterprise. For one thing, Apple's dependence on a single carrier is a nonstarter for some companies that have long existing relationships with a different carrier, and enjoy the discounts that come along with that partnership.

And while Apple's...

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