Will iPad 2 Be Another Enterprise Afterthought?Will iPad 2 Be Another Enterprise Afterthought?

The list of necessary enterprise mobile features, most of them on the security side, is long, and tablets will need to have them. This list also includes things like vulnerability remediation, hardware control (camera on/off, Bluetooth on/off, Wi-Fi associations to a controlled list of SSIDs, control of access to internal or external storage), and firewalls for protection from unwanted inbound IP connections to the device.

In other words, despite the iPad's success in the enterprise, Apple still has its work cut out for it. Financial services, government, and healthcare, just to name a few sectors, are concerned about tablet security. One reader recently commented that HIPAA regulations will likely prevent his company from giving users access to apps on app stores, thus negating Apple's lead in the mobile app race, at least where enterprises are concerned.

More than anything, then, Apple needs to step up here. It has enterprise APIs, and it has provided access to a variety of other companies, like Fiberlink and Mobile Iron. But it hasn't shared those APIs much further. Meanwhile, Enterproid has a cloud-based device management platform that supports iOS, and Sybase said that it has been shipping iOS support since June 2010, though it seems unlikely Apple would provide the deep access Samsung has allowed.

The Coveted iPad2 Invite

There are plenty of professional applications on iOS. Steve Phillpott, CIO of Amylin, a San Diego-based pharmaceutical company, said his company's next move will be take advantage of software-as-a-service apps like Workday, Salesforce.com, and Concur on iPads and iPhones. In fact, it already runs Concur on iPhones, a front end to the cloud-based expense application. It lets users enter information from, say, a business lunch, take a picture of the receipt, and simply hit submit to be reimbursed. But frist, Phillpott said, Amylin needed to make sure there was control and security. For that, Amylin selected Mobile Iron, which provides device management and helps Amylin create a company version of the app store.

There will have to be more such success stories, and fast, because it's not just a single device running Android that Apple will now compete with. It's all of the Android tablets springing like rabbits from the warren, and it's RIM and it's HP, and there will surely be something from Microsoft soon enough.

Most of what's expected from the iPad 2 will be, simply, more -- which is to say more of the same, only better. The next iPad will undoubtedly be faster than its predecessor, running some version of a multicore ARM processor, and featuring more powerful graphics processing and an enhanced display, all in a thinner, lighter package. Some expect dual GSM/CDMA chipsets and a better audio system. All of which will be welcomed but mostly will put the device on par, at least hardware-wise, with everyone else. It wouldn't be Apple if there weren't a couple of surprises, though.

An additional camera is a no-brainer. We knew that from the minute the iPad was taken apart (revealing space for a camera). This is crucial for mobile workers, like insurance adjusters or any traveler participating in a high-quality videoconference or video chat. Hopefully, Cisco is ready with an iPad camera version of WebEx. Camera access in apps like iDialog (an iPad version of Microsoft OCS, essentially) and Skype will also be helpful. At the same time, enterprises will need to be able to control the camera, and its use, even to turn it off.

Some have speculated that while the iPad 2 is unlikely to get external ports (let's hope at least for mini-USB), there will only be an SD Card slot, which means Apple won't have to come up with iPads packed with more storage (the upper limit now is 64 GB), and will also make transferring data between systems (cameras, for instance) a bit more portable. But those additions, too, introduce more risk.

Apple will start where it always does: the consumer. The consumer bought the iPad and brought it into the enterprise, and CIOs were forced to deal with it. Some embraced it, and those organizations are dealing with both the pleasures and the pains. Third parties have stepped up to provide a modicum of enterprise support, and enterprise application vendors are quickly getting on board. In other words, CIOs, don't expect much more than a thank you and best wishes.

Fritz Nelson is the editorial director for information and the Executive Producer of TechWebTV. Fritz writes about startups and established companies alike, but likes to exploit multiple forms of media into his writing.

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