{"id":11989,"date":"2012-01-09T10:46:28","date_gmt":"2012-01-09T10:46:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/?p=11989"},"modified":"2012-01-09T10:46:28","modified_gmt":"2012-01-09T10:46:28","slug":"managing-the-ipad-in-the-enterprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aidanfinn.com\/?p=11989","title":{"rendered":"Managing the iPad In The Enterprise"},"content":{"rendered":"

All that kerfuffle last year about Microsoft being late to market appears to have been valid.  iPads are turning up in the business.  And I don\u2019t mean the MD bringing one in, or one hear and another there.  I mean BIG numbers of them are turning up.  A well publicised example<\/a> is SAP where they\u2019ve deployed 12,000 iPads.  An interesting comment in the story is that the iPad is encouraging people to explore data and information, and probably empowering them to make better decisions.  A touch UI is more natural; maybe that\u2019s part of it.  And tablets are small and light, meaning a person is more likely to bring it to and use it at coffee or lunch or home.<\/p>\n

The interesting thing is that people aren\u2019t talking about the entry of the iPad into this sort of market.  People Let\u2019s face it; we\u2019ve been expecting this.  <\/p>\n

The conversation isn\u2019t \u201cOh Microsoft are screwed and this is the death of the PC\u201d.  We\u2019re still early days in the \u201ctablet at work\u201d era, and if Microsoft don\u2019t screw it up, Windows 8 with Office wave 15 could be a very powerful combination because of their possible integration with the normal PC and the LOB app.  I personally think 2013 will be an exciting time to be a .NET business applications architect.<\/p>\n

But back on topic \u2026 what are people talking about?  Management.  How in the hell are businesses managing and securing these devices?  A recent survey<\/a> said \u201cAmong 520 CIOs polled, 77% said they worry that further consumerization of IT will lead to greatly increased business risks\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

Right now, if you\u2019re using iPad then you\u2019re either trusting employees (I\u2019m a techie meglomaniac with mixed a little [a lot] Roy from the IT Crowd so that doesn\u2019t work for me) or they are using point solutions.<\/p>\n

The point solutions will fall into one of two groups.  A Blackberry house, for example, will probably use a dedicated tool for controlling and configuring their RIM devices.  But along comes an iPhone or an iPad and they suddenly need another dedicated management system or something more generic.  <\/p>\n

I think the best solution right now is to adopt a more generic mobile device management solution.  In a true consumerisation adoption, you have no idea what\u2019s going to come in the door: Android, RIM, Apple, Microsoft, etc.  For the IT guys, the challenge is that each platform is completely different, so they\u2019ll have to learn the strengths and weaknesses, develop a common denominator policy (PIN codes, remote wipe, etc), and then figure out how to secure each specific platform according to its unique needs.<\/p>\n

But think about this.  That\u2019s another<\/em> management system for IT to deploy and look after.  What if you could have 1 integrated system that can manage PCs and mobile devices, configure and secure them.  We don\u2019t have an RTM yet, but it\u2019s coming: Configuration Manager 2012 from Microsoft System Center has mobile device management<\/a>.  Information is still light on the ground on this feature, I guess all will be revealed when the products are launched.<\/p>\n