The adoption of iPads and iPhones by enterprise was predictable and Apple should have stolen a march on its competitors by creating its own mobile device management(MDM)software,according to law firm DWF's CTO,Richard Hodkinson.
In an interview with Computing,Hodkinson said that since Apple does not have an MDM solution of its own,corporations end up sticking with BlackBerry,which has its own MDM solution.
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"I'm absolutely aghast that[Apple]haven't recognised the potential here and haven't come up with MDM solutions themselves.Otherwise companies like MobileIron would not have had a position in the market.I'm surprised Apple,being the genius company it is,didn't think that it was inevitable that these devices would lead into organisations,because of the appeal that goes with these things,"he said.
DWF allows users to bring iOS,BlackBerry and Andorid devices into work as long as they sign a disclaimer for the firm to load MobileIron's mobile device management software onto the device.
Hodkinson's views echo those of chief information officers(CISOs)at Network Rail,Commerzbank and law firm Field Fisher Waterhouse,who slated bigger security software vendors for lagging behind smaller rivals in mobile security.
Speaking at a panel discussion at the Infosecurity Press Conference in January,CISO of Network Rail,Peter Gibbons,said that security vendors should have been more alert to the rising use of mobile technology in the enterprise.
"It does feel that[mobile use]just crept up on everyone and,all of a sudden,workers ask if they can use their email on this device and security companies seemed to have missed it.The whole industry has missed a trick.Even Apple was caught out by enterprise use of the iPhone,"he said.
"The big suppliers in the mobile device management(MDM)market,such as Touchdown and Good Technology,are not traditional technology companies that were heard of five or seven years ago,and they are now the leaders in the market,"he added.
