iPhone not for the enterprise, Gartner says

In a research report to be released next week, analyst firm Gartner will tell IT executives to keep Apple's iPhone away from the enterprise. "We're telling IT executives not to support it because Apple has no intentions of supporting [iPhone use in] the enterprise," Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney said. "This is basically a cellular iPod with some other capabilities, and it's important that it be recognized as such." The iPhone, scheduled to ship in the U.S. on June 29, appears to be a great consumer device but has no redeeming qualities from the perspective of a business user, Dulaney said. Besides lacking security features like a firewall, the product does not support Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes, so corporate users would have to forward e-mail to an Internet service provider, he said. Gartner's research note warning against business usage of the iPhone will likely be issued Monday, according to Dulaney. Meanwhile, other analysts say many businesses have no interest in supporting the iPhone-that will be mostly a consumer device.

For a full report on iPhones and the enterprise:
- read the article in ComputerWorld