There was plenty of talk about the iPhone at VoiceCon last week, but that may be due to the fact that the vendors had so little else of substance to talk about in terms of mobility. Certainly the iPhone has been a consumer phenomenon, and hence the vendors have gotten the confused idea that the same popularity extends into the enterprise. I deal with ENTERPISE mobility, but they all assume I'm just dying to hear about whatever lame capability they have if it involves the iPhone. In fact, the most interesting comment I heard about the iPhone last week came from Dave Heit of RIM who commented on our industry's obsession with "bright shiny objects."Before we start looking at all of the quirks and turns, there are a few notable shortcomings you should be aware of with regard to iPhones for enterprise applications:
* Security: The iPhone's security deficiencies top the list. First off, it does not feature on-board encryption, which means that it is not a safe vehicle for storing any company information. It does have a power-on password (the other essential element for any enterprise-grade smartphone), but there are techniques to defeat it quite easily. On the plus side, the R 2.0 version interfaces with Microsoft Exchange and can support remote access VPN connections, both of which are good things. The other good thing is that Good Technologies announced at the CTIA show last week that they will be introducing an iPhone device management solution during the second quarter. That system will allow network managers to configure email and VPN settings, view device configurations, and execute remote wipes. I'm reserving judgment until we see how the final product shapes-up, at which time we'll be better able to judge how far it advances iPhone on the enterprise path.
* No Multi-Tasking: To improve the device;s abysmal battery life, iPhone applications shut down when you make or receive a call. This deficiency makes it difficult to accommodate many of the fixed mobile convergence (FMC) and mobile UC capabilities the IP PBX vendors are trying to popularize.
* Battery Life: Enabling multi-tasking may make things worse as all of the iPhone's glitz features exacerbate the battery life problem; this is particularly problematic on a device that precludes the user's ability to use a spare battery. Many iPhone users find it essential to turn off the Wi-Fi interface when they're not using it. Maybe Apple's concept of "mobility" is defined by the length of the extension cord.
* AT&T's "3G" Network: While the second manifestation of the iPhone did introduce support for AT&T's 3G data service (the first version only supported the lower capacity 2.5G EDGE data service), they now find that success brings trials of its own. Apparently AT&T didn't factor the iPhone's success into their 3G provisioning plans so in many cities (including New York) the 3G performance can be abysmal. That's the kind of problem that can be fixed with time and money, but it's also the type of problem that should have been anticipated.
iPhones for Fixed Mobile Convergence At VoiceCon, Avaya and Varaha were showing the iPhone support capabilities on their fixed mobile convergence (FMC) solutions; Nortel was discussing the imminent release of theirs. Unfortunately, the lack of multi-tasking capability is a showstopper for many of those FMC capabilities. That is particularly true for dual mode FMC solutions like Varaha's that look to hand-off calls between Wi-Fi and cellular networks. Dual mode systems depend on a background application that communicates with the mobility controller during the call to determine when the user is moving out of Wi-Fi range and coordinates the transfer to cellular.
Varaha's solution is to give the user the option of which network to use at the call initiation; whichever network you pick, you're stuck with for the duration of the call (i.e. no hand-off). When you dial the number you can select "uMobility" (the name of their mobility controller), which will sends the call over the wireless LAN, or "Cellular," which sends the call just where you think. The hope is that in the next iteration of the iPhone, multi-tasking will be included so they can start supporting iPhones like the Symbian and Windows Mobile devices they have today.
Avaya and Nortel didn't even take a stab at dual-mode capability; they chose to support a version of their cellular-only mobile UC clients on the iPhone. The downside is that the calling process gets a little lumpy. Those solutions use the iPhone's Safari browser to access the corporate directory and use Computer Supported Telecommunications Application (CSTA), known more colloquially as "third-party call control," to set up the call. This is the type of call set-up you find with services like Google Voice. In short, you request a connection through the Web interface, the system calls your mobile number, you answer, and then the system then calls the other party. If we try to foist this type of a calling procedure on business users we could possibly drive them back to smoke signals and semaphore.
It is important to note that while multi-tasking is promised for the next generation operating system for the iPhone, that will still leave the battery life and Wi-Fi issues unresolved.
Skype for the iPhone The other big iPhone news last week was the announcement that Skype has developed an iPhone capability that would allow users to make Skype calls over the Wi-Fi interface on either the iPhone or the iPod Touch. While many are clamoring for the ability to have the Skype application work over the iPhone's 3G interface, the transit delay introduced by a 3G data service might make this capability not worth the bother. In any event, the voice over Wi-Fi capability in combination with Skype's recent initiatives in SIP trunking may demonstrate a commitment to actively engage the enterprise VoIP market.
Initial reports on the iPhone client indicated that that it didn't work for everyone, but it did work for Seth Weintraub, who wrote a very favorable blog on Computerworld. Of course, his observation that "the winner should be the service that best meets the voice needs of its customers at the best cost" is a little naive when the cellular carriers are involved.
That is quite apparent from a comment made by AT&T's top public policy executive, Jim Cicconi, to USA Today asserting AT&T's right to define the conditions under which the Skype application can be used. He noted that AT&T has "every right" not to promote the services of a wireless rival. As Jim puts it, "We absolutely expect our vendors not to facilitate the services of our competitors/" So much for: "May the best man win."
AT&T's position has garnered opposition from a number of groups including the Consumers Union. In a letter to acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps, The Free Press expressed concern that wireless carriers were not abiding by the FCC's Internet Policy Statement. Their concerns were with both the Skype issue and AT&T's prohibiting the ability to tether laptops to the iPhone for data access. To those of us who have been watching how the AT&T and Apple alliance has unfolded over the past two-years, this is not the least bit surprising. I had actually blogged about AT&T's tethering ban last year.
Conclusion At the end of the day, the iPhone is either a silly demo capability or a vague promise tied to some undefined future deliverable. So with all of the Sturm und Drang that has surrounded the iPhone, there are a few basic tenets that enterprise buyers should focus on:
* Enterprise and consumer requirements for mobility are different.
* There is no indication that the carriers are abandoning their stranglehold on the customer base. If they ever move forward on pro-enterprise initiatives like FMC, it will be on their own terms or as a result of an edict from the regulators (i.e. "with a gun to their heads"). In any event, the cellular carriers will fight that regulatory edict tooth and nail and with all of the lobbying forces they have spent millions to assemble.
* There are limitations in every product design and as network professionals we must be prepared to guide our users wisely.
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