IT Hates iPhone?
March 31, 2008 | By Raymond T. Hightower
An article in today’s Wall Street Journal lists reasons why corporate IT departments hate the iPhone. Security and incompatibility with existing software are two reasons. These are the same arguments raised against personal computers thirty years ago.
1978: Request-Wait-Paper
Computer users in 1978 were frustrated with IT departments that didn’t seem to meet user needs. If the VP of Marketing wanted a report on sales in the eastern region, she would make a request and then wait for the report to be delivered… on paper. If, after reviewing the report, she wanted more details on a particular state within the reason, the request-wait-paper cycle would be repeated.
This is very frustrating if you need timely access to information in order to make good decisions. So corporate users all over began sneaking PCs into their offices. From there they would build their own reports and perform their own data manipulation. Crude by today’s standards, but fantastic for people frustrated by the request-wait-paper cycle.
IT departments eventually figured out how to deal with PC security concerns. Now smart-phones present a new challenge.
2008: Smart-Phones
The cycle repeats, but this time with smart-phone technology. Less than a year after it’s first day of sale, the iPhone has captured 28% of the US smart-phone market. The iPhone handles browser-based software very well in an age when webware is starting to take off. Corporate uses want this device.
But IT has the same concerns about security and software compatibility.
Good Reasons to Reject the iPhone
IT departments have good reasons to resist change. If (when!) there is a breach in security, IT gets blamed. Regardless of the source of the breach, IT is expected to handle it like Scotty: Re-writing the laws of physics in the last fifteen minutes of a Star Trek episode. And if the captain steals a cloaking device from the Romulans, Scotty had better make it work with Federation technology before the Romulans charge their disruptors.
Back to Reality
Okay, back to reality. All of us have crazy expectations for the people that provide us with services. Travelers want airlines to fly across the country with great leg-room and low costs. Sick folks want physicians to prescribe drugs that cure illnesses overnight. Etcetera.
Technology Moves Forward
IT will resolve the security and software compatibility questions. Smart people working together tend to solve problems. And then new challenges arise…