1. The Road Ahead:
Challenges to iPhone
Adoption in the Enterprise
Dave Meeker - User Experience Strategist, Roundarch
2. 2
Disclaimer
As a professional that focuses on user
experience, I can not manage to give a
talk without first putting the subject
matter into context.
3. 3
Disclaimer, Part 2
The items addressed in this talk are not
meant to be exhaustive of every topic
that might arise. These are, however,
meant to start the conversation
around defensive support of the
iPhone as an enterprise platform.
5. 5
Different Types of iPhone Development
Building For Yourself Building Applications for Others
(Company Project) (Service Provider)
Internal Web Apps
External Web Apps
Internal Binary Apps
External Binary Apps
6. 6
Fear over concerns
that the Apple
iPhone is not ready
for the Corporate /
Enterprise are just
that... Fear.
Knowledge Is Power
7. 7
“The Only Thing We Have to
Fear Is Fear Itself” Franklin D. Roosevelt
• securely delivering email to and from devices
• delivering push email
and... •
•
integrating with a corporate calendar system
integrating with custom Intranet applications
• ability to support custom software applications
• provisioning and revocation of mobile devices
• etc
8. 8
Any change is resisted because
bureaucrats have a vested interest
in the chaos in which they exist.
RICHARD NIXON
9. 9
Media Misinformation
Many negatives have been reported by
journalists with little to no practical IT
experience. They are getting information from
consultants
Some analysts and consultants have an
agenda that doesn’t include Apple
technology in the Enterprise.
The iPhone is a “toy”
The iPhone is great!.... but not for business
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Corporate IT Bureaucracy
It does exist, but doesn’t exist everywhere
Many in Corporate IT are extremely risk-
adverse
You need to work with agents & champions
of change
You must work with your business clients to
become allies in the battle with “IT”.
“IT” is responsible to the business clients’
needs. Business clients demand better user
experiences.
11. 11
Human beings, who are almost
unique in having the ability to learn
from the experience of others, are
also remarkable for their apparent
disinclination to do so.
Douglas Adams
12. 12
According to Apple
The best phone for business. Period.
“What makes iPhone a great business phone? Simple. The
same features that make it a revolutionary mobile device.
With iPhone 2.0 software, iPhone does even more for your
enterprise. It supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync,
delivering push email, calendar, and contacts.
And it gives mobile users secure access to corporate
resources with Cisco IPSec VPN and wireless network
services with WPA2 Enterprise and 802.1X authentication.”
13. So... What Are The Concerns?
Email & Calendaring
Securely delivering email to and from devices
Delivering push email
Integrating with a corporate calendar system
Enterprise Application Support
Integrating with custom Intranet applications
Ability to support custom software applications
Device and Platform Specific Software Support
Provisioning and revocation of devices
Application development support
Security
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Email & Calendaring
The Challenge
Securely delivering email to and from
devices
Delivering push email
Integrating with a corporate calendar
system
The Response
The iPhone supports push-IMAP as well as
MS Exchange Server
Open (non-proprietary) technology saves
money over licensed services
Calendaring now works with MS Exchange,
and is always being improved
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Enterprise Application Support
The Challenge
Necessity to re-tool Web sites and Web-based
applications for yet another new device
Need robust application development support:
secure data storage included
Limitations on future development efforts
because of getting tied to the iPhone platform.
The Response
The iPhone arguably offers the best Web browsing
experience of any mobile device.
iPhone “installable” applications are “real”
software. Objective C is powerful. These are not
“light” applications when compared to other
mobile platforms.
The iPhone is on a standards-based track,
meaning it can scale as the Web changes around
it.
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Device Support & Software Support
The Challenge
Provisioning and Revocation of devices could be a
real challenge with current resources.
Delivering Software to iPhones requires that
allocation of IT resources must change
What if our custom iPhone application needs
changes made to it? What then?
The Response
Part of organizational change is a shift in thinking
of the process required to enable new
technologies.
iTunes: Yes, it sounds like it’s just for fun, but it
is your key to manage devices across the
enterprise.
Utilization of the iPhone configuration utilities &
distribution provisioning profiles
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Security
The Challenge
The iPhone isn’t secure, is it? Is it really a
serious business platform?
The Response
The iPhone is as secure as any mobile platform,
and arguably more secure than most.
What is the specific concern over security? Can we
address things point by point?
Following best practices for general security
combined with security built into the operating
system (VPN, etc) make the iPhone as secure as
any other platform in the market.
18. User Experience
If nothing else, the iPhone has redefined mobile user experience.
No longer just a fancy name for design!
Becoming the key driver behind consumer and enterprise software
development initiatives:
Over the last 10 years, we’ve really increased the possibilities of
what can happen on the back-end.
Back-end applications have paved the way for what we can now
leverage on the front-end.
Users are now demanding that applications adapt to their evolving
skills, wants, and needs.
If you are developing “experience-based applications” (in any
technology) YOU CARE about user experience!
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all of this technology
was created with a
single goal...
creating better user
experiences
20. The Challenges of Enabling Great Experiences
Building Experience-focused applications requires
enterprise change.
Internal team – Enterprise product development, etc – Building
stuff “for us”.
External team – Building stuff “for others” – Consulting / Pro
services / design shop
Your team make-up needs to change
Your process changes as well
21. So, what about ROI? Isn’t that what is most
important?
There is a strong intangible benefit to user experience
Total Cost of Ownership should be analyzed in each specific
case.
iPhone may have higher up-front cost
Support costs most likely reduced with iPhone
The “Killer Application” in your organization may be enough
of a differentiator by itself
Higher productivity
More adoption
Simply not possible without the advanced iPhone
Browser
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Lastly: It’s about using the right
tool for the right job.
Be honest with yourself and your clients (Internal or External)
The iPhone has given mobile experience in the enterprise real “legs”, but use those legs
to run forward, and not just do a pretty dance.
If you go the iPhone route, don’t assume that a binary application is the only way. Weigh
the options, pros, and cons of an installed application vs. a Web applications for the iPhone
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Q&A
dave meeker - roundarch - dmeeker@roundarch.com
