The eyes of many IT professionals were on Apple earlier this month during the Worldwide Developers Conference. We have already covered the announcements that were made to the iOS and OS X platforms. However, now that developers have had some time to use it, they believe there is still some work to be done before it is ready for prime time in the enterprise.
A recent article from Search Consumerization makes the case that while iOS 8 does have a number of new features that are specifically designed for corporate users, it does not yet satisfy all of IT's needs.
One of the biggest challenges that companies were hoping would get easier is AirDrop. This is the feature that helps companies share files over wireless networks between Apple devices. While this is a perfect process for offices that are entirely Apple-based, that is very rarely a reality.
A NetMarketShare.com study reported in May 2014 that 91 percent of the market share of desktops computers is still PC's. That means Apple is ignoring a potential gold mine by not releasing a way for its mobile devices to play better with non-Apple computers.
However, uncharacteristically for the company, it opened some systems up to developers so a more cross-platform solution could be on the way.
Could iCloud create a problem?
The use of cloud computing is growing across the corporate marketplace and a number of companies are offering their version of a solution. Apple was one of the first major companies to get into this area with iCloud, though it was primarily for consumer use with music and photos.
Recently, the company launched iCloud Drive, which will be part of iOS 8 and Yosemite. It will allow users to save files online through the finder including Windows 7 or later. However, because this is a new system, there is going to be some hesitation from organizations before they trust it to transfer critical business data.
Current offerings from other companies including Dropbox and Google Drive have had longer to marinate and have better security and have been updated with security in mind in recent months. However, Apple has had an extended push into the enterprise so it would be a safe assumption that any security problems would be quickly addressed.
With the help of an Apple support service, any company can deploy the new operating system with confidence and ensure that all enterprise capabilities are used.
