The presence of Apple iPhones in the enterprise has increased, but
the debate about whether the iPhone provides sufficient
enterprise-level security continues. While some say it’s possible to manage iPhones within an enterprise, others believe it’s wiser to refrain.
Odyssey Software is in the latter camp.
Odyssey’s primary offering is a mobile device management solution, for the Microsoft Windows Mobile platform, called Athena.
(A literature refresher: In the epic Greek poem “The Odyssey,” the
goddess Athena is the protector of the hero Odysseus — or Ulysses, as
he’s known in Roman mythology.)
Mark Gentile, CEO of Odyssey, is keen to point out the challenges IT
faces in managing mobile devices: employees connecting to public
networks, the growing variety of devices in the workplace, devices lost
in airports and taxis. Even when IT standardizes on a platform and
configures each device, said Gentile, “You still hear things like, 'Oh,
my son was using it to play this built-in game…and the e-mail settings
on the device somehow got modified.'”
The drift away from approved settings is natural, Gentile told eWEEK,
but knowing exactly what assets you have out there, and “having the
facilities to maintain the desired configurations, is very important.”
Which is the part where Gentile becomes critical of the iPhone.
“Apple locked out the ability to make [the iPhone] truly enterprise
manageable,” said Gentile. “[As far as] configuration drift, and
understanding what’s on the device — guess what? An ISV can’t do that.”
Apple has a complete list of all the software on an iPhone, but organizations can’t access this, Gentile explained.
“At this point in time, it’s impossible for us to write software to go
through the list of applications that are installed on the iPhone
because they exist in a type of sandbox — a little protected area — and
the information can’t get out to interrogate the device and tell it
what’s there,” said Gentile.
Gentile insisted there are security reasons for this — that Apple doesn’t do it merely to be difficult — and also that the new SDK (software
development kit) offers a small improvement, enabling a few background
tasks to run. Although these, he said, are user-selectable, meaning
that users, despite IT’s wishes, can opt out.
“If Apple wants to make this a first-class enterprise citizen, they
have to yield a little, or have a certification process, or a mobile
operator certification class,” said Gentile.
For e-mail through Microsoft Exchange, calendaring and tasks,
Gentile believes the iPhone is fine for enterprise use. “But would I
want an iPhone connecting to my secure corporate network? Probably not.”
Android, too, “is sandboxed,” said Gentile, but he pointed to Windows,
Symbian and Research In Motion as examples of platforms that enable IT
to enforce appropriate levels of policy for the enterprise. Still, he
said he’s hopeful about Apple, and mentioned Odyssey has a project in
the works that he couldn’t yet discuss.
“I think Apple’s going to come around,” said Gentile. “I think maybe
with a little more nudging, they’re going to improve [the SDK] even
more.”
With a new Apple iPhone and the Pre from Palm both anticipated for June, Gentile agrees that it’s going to be a tough summer for IT.
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