Security, lower TCO and the iPad Pro could drive Apple firmly into the Enterprise

[column width=”1/1″ last=”true” title=”” title_type=”single” animation=”none” implicit=”true”]

Anyone remember the “diskless workstation” that IBM was marketing in the late-80s and 90s? The business drivers were predominantly associated with cost, as you could skip the disk drives, but security was also a great factor. After all, if someone stole a company’s diskless workstations, all they would get is hardware as no confidential information was stored locally. It was targeted at vertical markets where homogenous platforms made the most sense. They wanted the power of “modern” operating systems with the central control and security of mainframe terminals.

The cost to manage these machines were also substantially less than their disk-based counterparts. Sure, they ran Windows 95 or OS/2, but they booted up from a network image that was the same for all machines. From a maintenance point of view, this was an ideal support model as only one version of the software was available, and the help desk only needed to be proficient with this one image.

Compare this with the disk-based machines that could easily let confidential data “get out in the wild”, and proved to be a support nightmare for the help desk due to all of the different configurations possible.

Twenty years later, these are still concerns of businesses, large and small. The question still remains, “How do I provide my end users with the best tools to do their jobs that is also secure with low support costs?”

Enter the iPad Pro. (And arguably the iPad Air)

It essentially solves the vertical market problem and much more.

If the iPad is stolen, and the employee has followed proper security protocols for password protection, the data is essentially safe. It can even be remotely wiped clean. If the user is using an enterprise provided app that requires a log-in, (and the data is properly encrypted inside the app) then the data is safe. If an employee is fired, simply disabling their credentials to the enterprise app should be sufficient to protect sensitive data.

If designed properly, the enterprise app serving employees can greatly simplify their consumption of data and create an enjoyable experience around process flows. Since iOS is a tightly controlled operating system, it is very easily supported by a help desk for the specific enterprise apps.

I think the screen size is right for enterprise consumption. I think the multi-tasking allowed by iOS9 will give business users the flexibility they need in creative and collaborative activities.

And, yes, you can create and deploy enterprise apps to your employees without going through the app store. That will be another article.

Do you own a vertical market organization that might best be served with a targeted app? Do you feel like your support organization is over-taxed supporting needless configurations? Do you have a good process to lock down confidential data in field devices? Call me to set up a time to discuss.

© Mark Travis – All Rights Reserved

www.travis-company.com

[/column]