Apple @ Work: Why iPhone OS 2.0 was important to Apple’s enterprise success in 2023

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When the iPhone was first launched in 2007, it was primarily marketed as a shopper machine. It rapidly turned a success with customers, nevertheless it wasn’t instantly clear how it could match into the enterprise market. On the time, BlackBerry was the dominant participant within the company world, and it appeared unlikely that the iPhone would be capable of unseat it with out altering the way it labored. Some CEOs had been capable of get the Trade e-mail working with iPhone utilizing IMAP, however Apple lacked the native Trade help that was required for push e-mail, calendar, and phone syncing.

About Apple @ Work: Bradley Chambers managed an enterprise IT community from 2009 to 2021. By way of his expertise deploying and managing firewalls, switches, a cellular machine administration system, enterprise-grade Wi-Fi, lots of of Macs, and lots of of iPads, Bradley will spotlight methods during which Apple IT managers deploy Apple gadgets, construct networks to help them, and prepare customers, in addition to share tales from the trenches of IT administration and methods Apple may enhance its merchandise for IT departments.


Nonetheless, one 12 months later, Apple made a transfer that may assist it achieve a foothold within the enterprise market. With the discharge of iPhone OS 2.0 in July 2008, Apple added help for Microsoft Trade 2007 and newer. This was a big transfer for Apple, because it confirmed that the corporate was critical in regards to the enterprise market and was keen to make adjustments to its platform to higher match into present enterprise architectures. A whole lot of Apple pundits thought that Apple would by no means construct in help for Microsoft’s company e-mail, however they had been fallacious.

The addition of Trade help was a sport changer for the iPhone in company environments. It allowed finish customers to simply entry their company e-mail, calendar, and contacts on their iPhones with no need to get IT concerned. The truth is, I’d argue that including an Trade e-mail to the iPhone in 2008 was simpler than including an Trade e-mail to some other machine – together with Home windows Telephone (RIP).

Apple was right here to play – and win

This transfer was important for an additional purpose as properly. It signaled that Apple understood that, within the enterprise market, it couldn’t dictate all the expertise. As a substitute, it needed to work inside the present framework and supply options that match into that framework. This was a departure from Apple’s typical method of making closed techniques that had been tightly managed. Apple’s mannequin for the iTunes/iPod period as “we’re going to attempt to management all the expertise” wasn’t going to work within the enterprise. Apple didn’t have an enterprise e-mail resolution (OS X Server doesn’t depend), so there was little to achieve by not adopting Trade. They merely needed to license the expertise and implement it. When it was introduced in 2008, the gang didn’t say a lot, although. It’s possible the folks within the viewers weren’t those who had been going to be enthusiastic about this announcement.

Wrap up

The addition of Microsoft Trade help to the iPhone was a turning level for Apple’s enterprise development, and it signaled that the corporate was critical in regards to the enterprise market and dealing with IT groups as an alternative of forcing them to undertake its personal insurance policies. Since then, Apple has continued to construct out its platforms to higher match into present enterprise architectures, and it has made important progress in convincing IT departments that its gadgets are safe and manageable.

Fifteen years later, as Apple continues promoting tens of millions of gadgets to enterprise prospects yearly, it’s Apple who’s now cheering.

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