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Businesses do want the iPhone apparently…
Despite the drawbacks…

By Reuters

Published: Monday 10 December 2007

Mike de la Cruz, a senior vice president with German software giant SAP, 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's iPhone is gaining ground as a business tool as well, and could one day rival RIM's popular BlackBerry line.

Businesses have yet to widely adopt the iPhone, so a major corporate adoption of the iPhone would be a breakthrough.

de la Cruz said at an industry conference in Boston: "[The iPhone]'s fun, it's so popular."

Indeed, it is popular enough that software makers such as SAP, Salesforce.com and scores of smaller developers are letting sales and finance teams work away from the office on their iPhones.

SAP broke with precedent last week by saying it would introduce a version of its upcoming customer relationship management software for the iPhone before launching versions for mobile devices from RIM and Palm.

SAP's own salespeople were saying the iPhone was easier to use, according to Bob Stutz, SAP senior vice president in charge of developing customer relationship management software.

But analysts said several things need to happen before the iPhone becomes a serious challenger - the most crucial of which is more support for corporate email.

BlackBerrys became an indispensable part of the business world for their ability to forward email from a corporate network straight to the phones.

The iPhone's email service can be configured to work with corporate systems but it does not "push" the entire message to the device. Contacts and calendars also cannot be updated over the airwaves but require the iPhone to be physically docked with a computer.

Since many businesses use Microsoft's Outlook software for email, contacts and scheduling, Apple would need to licence Microsoft technology that lets mobile phones work with Exchange, the server software that underpins Outlook.

Apple needs only to look at its recent past to find a business justification for working with its long-time rival.

Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research, said: "What really made the iPod take off was when they made it compatible with Windows. So if they made the iPhone compatible with Windows email, meaning Outlook, that would really make sales take off."

Email is not the only stumbling block to wider corporate adoption of the iPhone.

Analysts said some potential business buyers are holding out for a model that runs on newer technology that enables faster web connections. AT&T, the exclusive US carrier, said last week it expects that kind of iPhone in 2008.

Moreover, while surveys show more than 90 per cent of iPhone users are happy with the device, several executives have said it is too vexing to tap out long emails on the touchscreen.

Apple COO, Tim Cook, said in October: "We've said many times that we're providing a solution in iPhone that many businesses love. Clearly, there are some businesses buying them and very much enjoying them."

An Apple spokeswoman declined to discuss future iPhone plans, saying only that the company is happy so many software makers are interested.