iPhone: A big no-no for the enterprise

This Friday, the long-awaited iPhone will be released into the waiting hands of consumers and enterprise users--but experts are warning CIOs and other tech executives that the iPhone will create quite the headache for enterprises. The device, analysts say, will challenge businesses because of the needed support for email, iTunes songs, and other applications. At ABC in New York, the official policy, for now, is not to support the iPhone at all, but there will be some exceptions for top executives. "At this point, with a few exceptions, the iPhone is not a supported device, but for one or two ABC presidents, we'll make the walls move to allow it because we're in the communications business," said Jeff Plotkin, an engineer for broadcast operations and a technology liaison at ABC. "We'll figure out how to allow them access to e-mail." Meanwhile, Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates, said that he doesn't consider the iPhone--as currently envisioned--suitable for business users, unless they limit their use to functions like the phone. "iPhone doesn't have push e-mail," he noted. Early reviews that suggest that the iPhone's voice quality is not good have raised questions as well, he said. "Everybody assumes that because Apple makes it, the iPhone will be great, but it's hard to make a good phone, let alone pass data," Gold said.

For more on the iPhone in the enterprise:
- read the full article at Infoworld