iPhone reaches into the enterprise with Apple’s iPhone Configuration Utility 2.0

8/24/2009 | Author: Tim Courtney | Category: iLime News | 2179 Views | 0 Comments

Apple has been making steady strides into the enterprise with each new release of the popular iPhone OS. Until recently, when talking with people about iPhone in the enterprise, I had been telling people that one of the last barriers was allowing IT administrators to configure groups of phones using saved profiles and granular controls, similar to the enterprise tools made available to Blackberry and Windows Mobile administrators. Little did I know, Apple’s tool already existed; the iPhone Configuration Utility, now in its second version.

If you are an IT administrator or a decision-maker exploring the viability of deploying the iPhone in your organization, the iPhone Configuration Utility (ICU) allows administrators to “create, maintain, encrypt and push configuration profiles—XML files on the iPhone which contain information crucial to the device’s secure communication on a corporate intranet,” says John C. Welch in this recent Macworld article.

If you’re serious, take a look at Apple’s iPhone OS Enterprise Deployment Guide (PDF Link). This 83-page document covers everything from profiles to manually configuring devices, managing iPhone applications, Cisco VPN, and advanced security features.

Now that the iPhone has grown up, it’s time for organizations to take it seriously. Key enterprise-related features include:

• The most diverse app store with over 65,000 apps
• Push email and calendars, Microsoft Exchange support
• Find My iPhone and Remote Wipe features keep your phone secure
• Administration via iPhone Configuration Utility
• Push Notifications (via iLime, of course)

Like what you see? So do we. If you find this article helpful, and especially if you decide to deploy the iPhone in your organization, please drop us a line and let us know. Send a note to info@ilime.com or find us on Twitter via @iLimeBuzz.

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