Gartner: Businesses should ban the iPhone
IT departments should be extremely wary of allowing staff to use Apple’s mobile handset as it does not contain the necessary functionality to comply with basic corporate security, analysts warned in a research note released on Thursday. The iPhone will be launched in the US on Friday.
Gartner lists the following reasons to steer clear of the iPhone for now:
Lack of support from major mobile device management suites and mobile-security suites
Lack of support from major business mobile email solution providers
An operating system platform thatis not licensed to alternative hardware suppliers, meaning there are limited backup options
Feature deficiencies that would increase support costs(for example, no removable battery)
Currently available from only one operator in the US
An unproven device from a vendor that has never built an enterprise-class mobile device
The high price of the device, estimated at $500 (?50)
A clear statement by Apple that it is focused on consumer rather than enterprise
Integrating mobile devices and other tech into corporate IT networks, while maintaining security policies, has become an increasing problem for businesses. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that manufacturers providetools that allow staff to integrate their device into the corporate network, the analyst groupclaims.
“Most handheld devices come with easy-to-use tools that enable rapid interfaces to business systems,” the report stated. “When end users install such tools, they effectively ‘punch a hole’ through the enterprise security perimeter ?data can be moved across applications to personally owned devices, without the IT organisation’s knowledge or control.”
