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Is the iPhone Boom a Business Boon?
We all know how the iPhone frenzy has grabbed popular imagination since it was first announced in Jan 2007. With its cool feature set, slick appearance, powerful computing capabilities, beautiful display and intuitive touch navigation, this poster boy of the mobile generation has captured the imagination of gizmo freaks and tech phobics alike. To get some measure of iPhone’s success, one only needs refer to Tim Cook’s (Apple’s COO) recent statement at a conference – he said that the company had “really good confidence” the company would hit 10 million iPhones sold by the end of 2008.
According to a research from IDC, 70 percent of those polled who own, or plan to purchase an iPhone in the next year, consider it to be for both personal and business use.
Considering the vast proliferation of iPhones in such a short span, it is natural that all those who own a iPhone would want to extend its use to business as well. And it is no joy carrying around a Blackberry and iPhone in either pocket. All that does is to exert extra downward pressure on the belt. It is no wonder then, that iPhone’s usability in a business context is a raging debate nowadays. That is still a secondary question, because the fact remains that present and future end users of iPhone see is as something they want to use for business.
The Bad News
Unfortunately for corporates, iPhone was created mainly for the meatier consumer market, and never really meant to be a business tool.
What Obstructs “iPhone for Business”
- It’s mainly a PIM
- Third party applications not supported
- Lack of Exchange Support
Mainly a PIM – iPhone mainly has PIM(personal information manager) capabilities (email, contacts, calendars, calendars, notes) and not meant to be used for team collaboration, which requires the ability to share and work togather on information.
Sorry Third Party Developers – iPhone runs on a custom built operating system called the “iPhone OS”, and at this point does not allow third party applications to be built & installed on this native OS. Users are restricted to applications prebuilt into the system (mail, sms, calendar, photos, etc). This meant no special business centric applications could be created to make use of iPhone’s computing & display capabilities and internet-ability.
No Exchange Support – The gravest ommision was a lack of support for MS Exchange, which meant that users could not view even the most most elementary business information – business mail, contacts, tasks, and calendars, on their iPhones, what to speak of advanced collaboration. The only way to achieve this was complicated and unreliable workarounds.
The Good News
iPhone’s Business Friendly Features
- Rich Safari Browser
- Web 2.0 Applications Allowed
- Internet Friendly
- Recent Apple Announcements
Hurray for Web 2.0 – The good news is that they allowed a small window, through which an elephant could be pushed. Soon after its launch, Apple announced that it would allow third party web applications supporting web 2.0 standards, to run on iPhone though its rich Safari browser. This effectively meant that iPhone could be part of the web 2.0 revolution, and access all the rich applications therein.
The Safari Browser – iPhones web browser Safari, is a full web browser with the works. It is light years ahead of the custom made web browsers of traditional corporate handhelds like Palm’s Blazer browser, Blackberry browser, etc. It is not just comparable to a desktop browser, but is a desktop browser. This allows iPhone to ride high on the current web 2.0 wave, rather than just being a bystander.
According to AT&T and Google, iPhone generated 50 times more search requests than any other mobile handset.
Internet-ability- iPhone allows internet access through wi-fi or wide area EDGE networks. One important prerequisite for a mobile to be an effective remote collaboration tool is the willingness and comfort level of users to use the device for web access. With no little thanks to the large display & the safari browser, the iPhone has been a huge success as a device for web access. The iPhone increased the average wireless data usage as much as 30 times higher than on other phones.
Apple finally Awakens from its Slumber – Only lately has Apple has woken up to the previously ignored aspect of business usage. This was largely caused by the hue and cry raised by the media and users over its frustrating lack of business friendlyness. Even as I write, there is news of iPhone finally offering Exchange support, and an iPhone SDK (software development kit) which will allow programmers to develop applications specifically to be installed on the iPhone.
But these new developments are not just in their infancy, but even foetal stage. It will be some time before these new applications find their feet, an truly provide trouble free functionality to businesses.
Exchange support at this time is issue riddled and works only for companies that support Exchange 2007 or Direct Push on Exchange 2003. Moreover, this and the launch of installed applications for iPhone wont take place until a firmware update slated for June 2008.
Webapps to the Rescue : HyperOffice as a case in study
Amongst the first companies to regonise the oppurtunity presented by iPhone for rich business applications was HyperOffice. Already well experienced in the web based business collaboration domain, they developed HyperOffice for iPhone, an iPhone specific version of their flagship product, HyperOffice.
This allowed business users to use almost the entire feature set HyperOffice right from their iPhones. Rather than an isolated personal information manager, HyperOffice allowed iPhone to be used as a dynamic collaboration tool through which users could access the company intranet, share contacts and calendars, plan projects, share and edit documents, schedule meetings, & many other things.
They also realised early on that a major pain point for users looking to use iPhone for business was a lack of Exchange support. HyperOffice allows users to get past this hurdle easily by acting as a bridge between Exchange and iPhone. It allows users to receive information directly from Exchange, or access Outlook information (mail, contacts, calendars, tasks) right on iPhone, with or without Exchange. No matter where users access mail and other information – Outlook, iPhone’s email client or on any other web device, information is automatically synched. Users always get updated information.
The author has 5 years experience working with web based technologies. His expertise lies especially in collaboration applications for the SMB segment.
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Business excellence is an ideal that all good entrepreneurs strive to achieve. In fact, many organizations are devoted to honoring those businesses that best exemplify this concept. However, business excellence cannot be strictly defined. Rather, it varies from one industry to another. For example, in the car industry, business excellence includes customer commitment, quality control, efficient supply, and innovative management.
Leaders in the car industry understand the need to form a strong bond with customers. Perhaps more than other sectors, consumers are more likely to make a decision regarding an automobile purchase based upon their experience with those in the industry. Thus, entrepreneurs need to be concerned with two essential features relating to customer commitment. The first is meeting the needs of the consumer, financially and socially. People need automobiles that meet their economic means. This not only means getting a good initial purchase price, but also finding a vehicle that will require minimal repair and maintenance down the road. Consumers also want to purchase automobiles that will not require excess money to be spent on fuel. Therefore, business excellence includes finding more cost-efficient production and distribution processes, and subsequently passing these savings on to the consumer.
The second aspect of customer commitment is meeting societal needs and desires. This means staying informed of what vehicle features are most significant to consumers. Such information can be garnered using formal surveys and demographic research. Once you understand the buyer, you are more capable of catering to him or her. For example, people in some regions are especially concerned with the environmental impact of their purchases. Thus, the automobile industry would need to show those people they are committed to using recycled materials and alternative fuels. Additionally, many consumers want family vehicles that are safe and comfortable for children. Therefore, excellent automobile entrepreneurs will focus their attention on crash test results and extra amenities.
In addition to customer commitment, business excellence must include exceptional quality control measures. This means ensuring that car vehicles are safe and easy to maintain. Appropriate testing should be undertaken for each new product model, and the results of these assessments need to be made public in a timely manner. Additionally, individual dealerships should take care to ensure every vehicle is inspected prior to sale and stored under ideal conditions prior to purchase.
Efficient supply is an aspect of business excellence that is frequently overlooked. The balance between supply and demand is vital to the car industry. Producing too many vehicles can lead to severely diminished profits. It can also lead to a waste of resources that could have been better utilized for vehicles more likely to be purchased. Meanwhile, a supply that is too short can cause companies to lose customers. When an individual needs to purchase a vehicle, he or she may not be able to wait any extensive period for a desired product to come into supply. As a result, they will simply find an alternative automobile to purchase.
Finally, business excellence in the car industry requires innovative management. There are several parties involved in the manufacture and distribution of vehicles, and financial as well as labor resources need to be managed from the top down as well as controlled on a micro-level. Thus, not only do large factories need to communicate with business executives and the dealerships that asses supply, but individual sales representatives need to be appropriately trained and supervised at each individual dealership.
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