At this rate, Apple’s gonna own the mobile enterprise

Apple owns the mobile enterprise. That dominance means enterprise developers are building solutions that make iOS even more essential, including BroadSoft‘s latest unified communications solution, UC-One.

iBeacon redux

In a new twist, UC-One works with Apple’s iBeacon devices to enable more precise identification of an individual’s location within a work environment (office, conference or meeting room, for example), enabling employees to select the most efficient ways to communicate.

This is an important element to Unified communications (UC). UC means integration of all elements of a company’s internal and external communications, from email to video conferencing, instant messaging and more. These deployments usually comprise platform-agnostic solutions from multiple vendors.

This transformation of enterprise IT into a platform-agnostic ecosystem is why BroadSoft’s new UC-One mobile app makes makes voice, video, business directories, call logs, Instant Messaging and presence available on a single interface — regardless of the user’s preferred mobile device.

Beyond UC

The iBeacon integration is interesting. You see, the implications of the ability to sense where employees are in a place of work go beyond simple messaging. They also replace existing systems that drive warehousing and other forms of mass deployed stock control.

For example, UK retailer Tesco at its Irish distribution point gives workers smart armbands that track the goods gathered, allocate tasks and measure the workers’ movements within the building.

These solutions could now easily be replaced by alternatives based on iBeacon and consumer wearables, such as the iPhone or (beginning in 2015) Apple Watch.

You can’t underestimate the potential for Apple’s wearables in conjunction with iBeacons and solutions such as those from BroadSoft to accelerate Apple’s place in the enterprise — particularly if Microsoft fails to get it right with Windows 10.

Apple dominates

Good Technology’s Mobility Index report, issued in August, puts new iOS device activations in the enterprise at 67 percent. (This fell slightly in that month, but is likely to increase as enterprise users invest in new iPhones).

Growing support for Apple solutions within overall enterprise IT strategy means the Apple-supporting ecosystem is also continuing to grow.

Salesforce recently created a venture arm to support innovation in wearable devices, and introduced its own SDK designed to make its solutions part of the wearable future.

“The explosive growth of Salesforce Wear has validated the need for a unified platform to bring together software companies, wearable device manufacturers and developers wanting to create apps that will enable companies to connect with customers in entirely new ways,” said the company’s senior vice president for emerging technologies, Daniel Debow.

Growing support

Good Technology introduced powerful features in its iOS 8-supporting MDM solution last month. The key feature is the ability to create a division between a user’s personal and professional use of a device — meaning employee privacy is protected, while the enterprise continues to make efficiency gains.

This is also thanks to Apple’s implementation of managed content (as well as managed apps) support in iOS 8, which contains a host of improvements likely to maintain its leading position as an enterprise mobility firm.

The evidence shows Apple’s solutions becoming the most significant components in mobile enterprise IT, and this is driving software developers in the enterprise to create solutions that support Apple’s offerings. That’s not to say the traditional Windows shops aren’t putting up a fight, but it seems unlikely to be a winning fight.

The world turned upside down

Apple’s growing success puts the fate of other mobile platforms into question, particularly in mobile: “Companies need to seriously ask the question of how much extra expense it is worth to them to support other operating systems in addition to iOS,” said Cortado CEO Carsten Mkeleit last week.

Apple’s success in enterprise markets for so long closed to it reflects the damage complacency did to those who previously dominated the enterprise IT space.

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