Apple iPhone Winning Corporate Fans

Apple iPhone Winning Corporate Fans

Daniel Fleshbourne on 07 December 2007 - 09:38 · 21 comments & 11980 views

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Mike de la Cruz, a senior vice president with German software giant SAP AG, shows off the latest weapon of the corporate road warrior -- his iPhone. A hit with consumers because it combines a phone, music player and Web browser, analysts say Apple Inc's iPhone is gaining ground as a business tool as well, and could one day rival Research in Motion Ltd's popular Blackberry line.

Although sought out by high-end consumers, Apple products have never been accepted widely by business, so major corporate adoption of the iPhone would be a breakthrough. "It's fun," de la Cruz said in Boston at an industry conference earlier this week. "It's so popular."

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(3 replies) #1 RAID 0 on 07 Dec 2007 - 10:30

"It's fun." "It's so popular." Good arguments for a business tool.

#1.1 Danrarbc on 07 Dec 2007 - 10:36

Exactly.

Fact is I don't think there's a WORSE phone for businesses than the iPhone. Especially larger companies that would want to roll out settings and custom applications for all handsets. iPhone offers absolutely no ability to do so outside of jailbreak, and Apple keeps trying to lock them back up every chance they get.

#1.2 +Dakkaroth on 07 Dec 2007 - 13:50

I lol'd at that myself.

#1.3 whistlerxp on 10 Dec 2007 - 12:48

Quote - (Danrarbc said @ #1.1)

SDK in a month dude.

(1 reply) #2 bibutteryboy on 07 Dec 2007 - 11:58

Quote -

"What really made the iPod take off was when they made it compatible with Windows. So if they made the iPhone compatible with Windows e-mail, meaning Outlook, that would really make sales take off,"

this made me giggle

#2.1 C_Guy on 07 Dec 2007 - 15:50

Yet again, a selling feature of an Apple product is that it works with Microsoft's technologies.

#3 Cidinho on 07 Dec 2007 - 13:51

Wow. Those companies really expect productivity having a gadget like that.

Next step: "take this Portable Xbox 360¹ and have it turned on so we'll not spend money on phone calls; talk in IM." What would grantee them then that he's not wasting his working time playing Halo?

[hr]
¹ They are making portable everything, why not xbox? =]

#4 neufuse on 07 Dec 2007 - 16:30

It's winning corporate fans because if you know corporate people THEY LIKE TO SHOW OFF! I sware in my last company meeting we got asked by the VP's "so when are we getting iPhones?" they were all anxious... then kinda mad AT US! when we said we are not in AT&T territory... (we are not, the only GSM provider in our area is T-Mobile and their reception even sucks... 2 towers for the entire county!

#5 chaos_disorder on 07 Dec 2007 - 18:17

It's pretty simple - no Exchange support, no widespread adoption by businesses. Real business people don't have time to play with a phone because it looks cool. They need one that does what they need to get the job done.

(1 reply) #6 zivan56 on 07 Dec 2007 - 19:18

If it was up to me, corporate phones would be the Nokia 3390 (3310 for Europe). Phone+SMS=all you need

#6.1 excalpius on 08 Dec 2007 - 20:05

Thank god it's not up to you then.

#7 mrmckeb on 07 Dec 2007 - 23:52

Buy a Windows phone you tool. Or at least a Blackberry.

(2 replies) #8 LTD on 08 Dec 2007 - 00:09

Make sure you keep ramping up the anti-Apple FUD machine into high gear, people. Don't let yet another success story from Apple get too much good press.

The iPhone is spreading. I love to watch people trying desperately to slam it.

#8.1 Croquant on 08 Dec 2007 - 00:55

So do I.
:slams iPhone:

The difference is I'm not being sarcastic.

#8.2 whistlerxp on 10 Dec 2007 - 12:49

Quote - (Croquant said @ #8.1)

So do I.
:slams iPhone:

The difference is I'm not being sarcastic.

Does not compute.

(1 reply) #9 selphj on 08 Dec 2007 - 20:50

Our group in IT supports our corporate blackberries and I can tell you that blackberries are in no danger. There is no method for corporate control of an iPhone for one thing. Second, it's seen by many IT Security groups like ours as a fancy MP3 player (storage device) therefore it's banned on site to start with. And last but more important, in the VP and top executive world, blackberries are synonymous with being important. Having any other gadget phone but a blackberry to these guys means that you just haven't made it yet. We've thought a lot of other cool phones would change these guys minds, but it doesn't happen. The iPhone won't do it either.

#9.1 Neomac v6 on 09 Dec 2007 - 13:37

Quote - (selphj said @ #9)

in the VP and top executive world, blackberries are synonymous with being important. Having any other gadget phone but a blackberry to these guys means that you just haven't made it yet.

Most people who use the iPhone agree it's a paradigm shift. iPhone will dominate the consumer sphere first and then leach into the corporate space.

Those "important" types will be the last to catch on.

#10 Magallanes on 09 Dec 2007 - 11:17

SAP will support Iphone... for a mere $1m per year plus installation, update and many,many extra costs.

Or you can play with oracle reducing the cost tenfold times cheaper that sap r3

(2 replies) #11 monkeydust on 09 Dec 2007 - 11:22

It is a lousy corporate phone. I'm forced to use the lousy Outlook Web Access interface because the regular Exchange interface is to insecure and my company won't enable it.

#11.1 LTD on 10 Dec 2007 - 00:07

Lousy . . . *now*

Just wait a bit.

#11.2 whistlerxp on 10 Dec 2007 - 12:51

Quote - (LTD said @ #11.1)

Lousy . . . *now*

Just wait a bit.

Can't wait for Outlook:iPhone

/sarcasm

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