Got a tip for us? Share it...
• • RSS

iPhone Winning Corporate Customers

Thursday December 6, 2007 7:41 pm PST by Arnold Kim
A Reuters report indicates that Apple's iPhone has started making inroads with corporate customers despite initial criticisms about its suitability for that market.

Earlier this week, SAP announced that they would be introducing a version of their sales-force automation software for the iPhone before introducing mobile versions for more traditional corporate devices, such as the BlackBerry and Treo.

The reason? SAP's own salespeople were clamoring for it, saying the iPhone was easier to use, according to Bob Stutz, SAP senior vice president in charge of developing customer relationship management software.


A few other factors, however, still need to be addressed, according to analysts, before the iPhone can be fully adopted. This includes integration with push-email and Outlook/Exchange compatibility.
[ 29 comments ]

Top Rated Comments

(View all)

Avatar
megfilmworks
Posted: 55 months ago
Bye Bye Blackberry.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
pedroistheman
Posted: 55 months ago
So are they going to have a "corporate mode?" I don't see the iPhone being a useful device for mass email. It gets the job done, but my mail app still doesn't scale for some emails.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
liberty4all
Posted: 55 months ago
Umm, another reason is that Apple is an SAP customer with over 200 users... Duh! I would guess Steve Jobs or other Apple folks were involved somehow... See:
http://www.apple.com/jobs/us/pro/ist/scenes.html
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
erandall38
Posted: 55 months ago

Umm, another reason is that Apple is an SAP customer with over 200 users... Duh! I would guess Steve Jobs or other Apple folks were involved somehow... See:
http://www.apple.com/jobs/us/pro/ist/scenes.html


You burst my bubble of excitement.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
jrober
Posted: 55 months ago
o2 in the Uk better get their finger out. I have a company phone with o2 and when I asked to be able to put my O2 sim into an iPhone they told me that iphones were not for corporate customers and it would not work.

Come on o2...I want an iPhone - Steve can you give them a nudge it is worth another sale isn't it?

John
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
PCMacUser
Posted: 55 months ago
Until the iPhone is officially unlocked from being on a particular network in each country, it'll never get established in the corporate environment. Most major (and often the minor) companies have big contracts with mobile phone networks, so they're tied in and can't just switch to another one at the drop of a hat.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
whenpaulsparks
Posted: 55 months ago
yes to push email support, yes to exchange *calendaring* and *address book* support.

but i've been using my iphone with exchange mail for the past few months and it works flawlessly. and since it's IMAP, if a message is read on my computer at work, it's marked read when it gets to my phone. it works great.

the author needs to help kill the myth that the iphone doesn't work with exchange... it does, just only with mail currently, which is the most important feature of exchange. i will love to see calendar and address book support one day.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
PCMacUser
Posted: 55 months ago


the author needs to help kill the myth that the iphone doesn't work with exchange... it does, just only with mail currently, which is the most important feature of exchange. i will love to see calendar and address book support one day.


No calendar support? Oh, forget it then. I'll stick to my Treo for now.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
blilly
Posted: 55 months ago

So are they going to have a "corporate mode?" I don't see the iPhone being a useful device for mass email. It gets the job done, but my mail app still doesn't scale for some emails.


That is exactly why people find it effective: it keeps people from spamming a bunch of irrelevant sales BS and PPT decks around--if you want "corporate mode" stick to blackberry.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Avatar
cmcconkey
Posted: 55 months ago
Can the iPhone be linked into a Business AT&T account? I was just hired as an IT director for a company and they are with AT&T for their cell service. I would like to get the iPhone if possible, but not sure what the restrictions are on account type.


Thanks
Christopher
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives

[ Read All Comments ]