How iOS 5 Could Affect Your Devices

On October 4th Apple announced plans to release the iOS 5 update on October 12th, 2011 at midnight PST.

As with previous OS updates, Enterprise Mobile expects that new devices procured shortly after the release will soon be pre-installed with iOS 5 instead of iOS 4.3.2.

For legal, not technical reasons, Enterprise Mobile will not be able to downgrade newly procured devices from iOS 5 back to iOS 4.3.2. This may also impact old devices that are sent to Apple repair, which may return upgraded.

This may impact applications, automated MDM rules, and end-user support.

Testing iOS 5

Enterprise Mobile urges all iOS customers to quickly and thoroughly test and validate that all their business applications run on iOS 5, with functionality retained.

Most ISVs have been testing iOS 5 during the beta cycle and have updated the Apple AppStore with the updated software versions. After the final iOS 5 release is obtained and validated, they may need to update their applications in the AppStore. Third-party application development firms that build custom applications may also need to go through a similar process and customers may need to obtain updated application binaries.

A high-level overview of new features provided in iOS 5 can be found here: http://www.apple.com/ios/features.html

Enterprise Mobile can provide assistance for customers that need help with detailed testing.

Upgrading

To install iOS 5 on compatible iPhone, iPod and iPads hardware, tether the device to a Mac or PC that is running iTunes and follow the upgrade prompts.

Please note that some of your end-users will perform this on upgrade on their own, on the first day the software is available.

Enterprise Mobile can assist if a large scale upgrade of devices is required, and can work with your internal support personnel to speed the process.

Mobile Device Management (MDM)

Many MDM vendors are preparing new versions of their products to add additional functionality and validated iOS 5 support.

Until iOS 5 is released on October 12, MDM vendors cannot publically disclose what new MDM features it provides or what they will support. This is mandated by a separate NDA they have signed.

Because you may not be able to update your MDM solution before the iOS 5 release, Enterprise Mobile strongly recommends that you have any iOS access version controls verified and possibly disabled if necessary to permit new iOS 5 upgraded devices to connect and access business critical functions.

Enterprise Mobile will release another Technical Bulletin once additional information on the iOS 5 MDM features is made public.

iCloud

Apple iCloud is a new feature that will enable syncing of photos, music, and documents between multiple devices. Applications present on the AppStore will not be backed up, but instead they will automatically become re-downloaded from the AppStore if your device is restored from your iCloud backup. Every Apple ID will receive 5 Gb of storage free of charge. iCloud does not support multiple Apple IDs if used on the device for personal and corporate applications.

We do not know yet whether it will be possible to manage the iCloud features or settings from an iOS 5 supported MDM solution.

Over-the-Air Updates

The iOS 5 release is the first iOS version that can provide over-the-air (OTA) updating of the OS itself. This will be advantageous to most enterprise customers as it eliminates the need to keep devices tethered to a Mac or PC to retrieve updates.

Apple has not announced whether there will be any future MDM settings to control the OTA update functionality. Some enterprise customer may want to control the flow of updates and ensure production support.

The pace of change in the mobility space is truly remarkable, like nothing we’ve seen before. By my calculations, we can expect to see 7 to 10 new versions of the major platforms each year. That’s likely 2 or 3 each from Google and Apple and a couple for Windows Phone. And as for mobile devices – nearly every month new ones appear on the market.

Enhancements to mobile device platforms give consumers a constantly growing range of choices when they compare smartphones and tablets. Whether they are looking for a device for personal or business use – or both – they definitely have a broad selection from which to choose.

But, as the pace of change provides an increasingly rich and more satisfying experience for users, it creates serious challenges for IT.  Keeping up with constantly changing platforms, devices and device management solutions (not to mention fickle mobile users and their unpredictable preferences) can be overwhelming. The diversity among mobile platforms and devices means IT must struggle to track mobile management and security capabilities and keep up with the solutions and best practices for implementing them.

Enterprise Mobile, providing corporate mobility services across industries, provides a way for organizations to tap mobility expertise and avoid the effort and expense of acquiring that expertise internally. We’ve taken on the challenge of tracking updates to the major mobile platforms, devices, and device management solutions. Armed with that knowledge, we’re helping our customers deploy devices like the iPad to employees and providing support and management services to help the mobile workforce perform more effectively.

At a time when companies are supporting two, three, or even four mobile platforms, the need for help desk support couldn’t be greater. Users of mobile devices, not surprisingly, are often out on the road, where they depend on their smartphones and other devices to stay in touch with customers and colleagues and maintain access to critical data and documents. For these users, support is critical.

As companies add newer mobile platforms like Android and Apple iOS to their environments, user needs and the amount of technical savvy required to address them become increasingly complex. As a result, at Enterprise Mobile we’re fielding more requests for our mobility support services. Many IT groups either cannot find people with the expertise needed to support multiple mobile platforms or do not want to hire additional help desk personnel.  With our services, companies can define the SLAs they need to keep their users productive and pay predictable fees to meet their needs. 

I’m not surprised to read that the number of help desk incidents has been on the upswing. Our people are on the receiving end of many of the calls users are placing. They’re fielding user questions about the different types of smartphones used in the enterprise, as well as the iPad and iPod touch and rugged handheld devices that run on Windows Embedded. They also answer questions about mobile apps, OS upgrades, and carrier service. As mobile devices take on a greater role across industries, Enterprise Mobile will buck the trend. Our mobility support services and help desk staff will grow to keep pace with the demand and effectively support the major smartphone platforms.

It also means that enterprise IT will need to prepare to manage and support a new mobile platform because several aspects of WP7 are critical to enterprise mobility. For instance, the platform provides device management capability that allows smart phones to comply with corporate policies. Version 1 is not perfect (there’s no encryption, for example), but it does provide for a basic ActiveSync compliant device. By allowing users to transition easily between their work and personal lives, Windows Phone 7 will enable employees to carry one device around the clock. In addition, by making it easy to develop cloud-based enterprise-specific apps for this platform, Microsoft has taken steps to appeal to consumers who have grown accustomed to having a wide array of smartphone apps to choose from. Based on these and other characteristics, I believe Windows Phone 7 will make it onto many approved lists very quickly.

The advancements that Windows Phone 7 brings to the smartphone market will further spur innovation in a market that shows no signs of standing still and make the ever-evolving and increasingly diverse mobility market even more interesting. Really.

One industry that is reaping mobility’s benefits is retail. Instead of printing and lugging around paperwork, retail and merchandising employees can use mobile devices to collect valuable data and easily feed it to centralized databases. Managers can then access the most up-to-date information to monitor store performance and streamline the reporting process. Just as consumers use their phones to get things done, mobile technologies allow retailers to boost productivity and get more out of their workforce.

Why then aren’t all retailers making a mad dash for mobility? Learn more about the obstacles to adoption retail faces and how those obstacles can be overcome in this article in Chain Store Age magazine by Mike Anderson, Enterprise Mobile VP, Operations.

As employees gain greater freedom in their choice of mobile devices for business use, they experience a range of benefits, while IT faces some real challenges. The situation is a combination of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

The Good is that the broad range of smart phones and the innovation they provide are truly empowering users. Platforms are increasingly enterprise-aware, providing ways to meet corporate security and manageability standards. Yet these same choices lead to a lack of standardization, which is the Bad. And it all leads to the Ugly – what happens when choice gets ahead of the company’s ability to handle it.  What results is a mess.

To learn more about how to deal with the Ugly and embrace the diversity among mobile platforms and devices, check out this article I recently wrote for Mobile Enterprise magazine.

If your company has 500 or more employees, you can buy an iPhone “Enterprise” developer license.  It’s a bit more then the “Standard” individual and company licenses, but not much.  For more on developer licenses, go here.

Once you have the license, you can sign your LOB apps with your certificate and provision them to company devices.  “Enterprise” developer licensing allows what is called “Universal” application provisioning.  This is the same type of provisioning that is granted to applications deployed through the Apple Appstore and allows deployment of the application to any iPhone on the face of the Earth.

Wow, so with a developer license, you can deploy an app to any iPhone out there without going through the appstore….WRONG!  The “Enterprise” developer license EULA that you accepted dicatates that you are only allowed to deploy apps to iPhones operated by employees of your company.  Deployment to any other iPhones is illegal.  And, I’m absolutely sure that Apple is not going to stand by and let you break the law.

Well, you can deploy your LOB app to your company users and that’s the important thing, right?  At this point, you may be wondering how you go about deploying the application to the employee-operated iPhone.  There are currently two ways to do it.  Use the iPhone Configuration Utility (iPCU) or use Apple iTunes.  Both methods are described in the Apple iPhone Enterprise Deployment Guide.

The caveat here is that neither iPCU or iTunes app deployment can be performed directly between the iPhone and a server.  Both iPCU and iTunes are desktop applications that run on either a Mac or Windows machine.  But, they do support two different scenarios.  iPCU is best if you want to setup a bulk number of iPhones with your LOB before giving them to the user.  iTunes is better for deployment of the app or on-going updates when the iPhone is already in the user’s hands.

When deploying the LOB app, you have to get your Enterprise Developer License .mobileprovision file installed on the iPhone before you can install a .app file.  You can deploy the .mobileprovision file using desktop management that you may have deployed in your network to offload this task from the user.  When the iPhone is connected to the desktop running iTunes, the .mobileprovision file will be deployed.  Then the user must add the .app to their app library and select to install it on their iPhone.

However if you live in Europe, where the (re) branding of your phone by mobile operator is much less prevalent you are lucky – there are 3 updates available right now. See the links below and let me know how you like the new, shine WM 6.5

HTC Touch Pro 2

HTC Snap

Toshiba TG01

Cancelled Sendo WM device

I have started to work with smartphones sometime in 1998. I even have a mint prototype of what supposed to be the first Windows Mobile powered phone by Sendo – project that got canceled in 2002. Read more about it here.

Anyway fast forward to 2006 and any IT executive that was thinking about deploying mobile email / PIM and mobile applications basically had two basic option RIM/Blackberry and Windows Mobile. Each had its advantages and issues but once you had your requirements and made your decision, there was a good chance for you to run homogeneous platform. IT Helpdesk and Support, Training, Security and other departments became aware of the platform of choice and while international presence may posed a challenge with availability and the Symbian disruption (especially in Europe) the job was quite easy.

But something did happen in 2007 – the Apple released iPhone and stirred the pot. While the first generation was not suited at serious business use, the second one in 2008 added support for Microsoft Exchange and history started to repeat itself. IT managers were asked by their executives to figure out how to support iPhone, instead of their Blackberries. Regular employees started to bring their own devices and peer support helped them to get corporate email enabled. And the numbers grew.

Today with the introduction of Palm Pre into the mix, the bigger use of ruggedized devices that almost exclusively run Windows Mobile OS, over 30 new smatphone devices running Android planned for release before the end of the year and iPhone being on its 3^rd generation, the 2006 homogenous era looks like a something that will never happen again.

The reality is that most if not all IT departments and business owners have to consider supporting multiple platforms and consider the impacts and risks of all of them. There are some tools that serve multiple platforms well but most are just in their infancy. Also how to make a decision on which support and which just allow /enable but don’t provide any support?

Enterprise Mobile has been building mobile expertise since 2006. If you have any questions about what to do why don’t you send quick email or attend one of the great webinars