British government ministers and civil servants cannot use an iPhone as a work device, although RIM’s Blackberry devices are issued to some ministers.
Despite very fast sales for Apple’s new iPhone 4, the device is not approved for use by ministers or civil servants within Whitehall, according to a written answer to Parliament by health secretary Simon Burns.
The iPhone ban is on the advice of the Communications-Electronics Security Group (CESG), part of the government technology intelligence service GCHQ which advises government on IT security.
Burns was answering a question from Labour MP Tom Watson, a former digital minister, who has been outspoken on issues including the Labour overnments Digital Economy Act, which contains measures on piracy which Watson opposes.
Blackberry devices have traditionally been seen as safe and enterprise-friendly, but there have been signs that the Apple iPhone is making inroads into corporate accounts, although it was originally designed for consumers. AT&T has reported that around 40 percent of iPhones are bought for business, and London-based Standard Chartered Bank is offering staff the option to have company iPhones.
Although RIM has the upper hand in business email, the company is reportedly not taking Apple’s competition lying down. The company is is reportedly working on a Blackberry tablet to compete with Apple’s extremely popular iPad. The Apple tablet has already sold more than two million devices, and is expected to make its presence felt in the office – tablets have been backed for business use by analysts Forrester and Gartner
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Apple security and remote policy/support will improve but most organisations email systems are from Microsoft, will Microsoft guarantee service and support for an Apple device? Short answer No, longer answer what is in it for them?
I see iphone as a total overkill for business use, the majority of the feature set has little relevance to business users.
Also the unit cost of an iphone is very high
I find it insulting that government officials who are supposed to be experts claim that iPhones are insecure and say nothing about the use of virus ridden PC's by the government. May I remind them that the only security breaches on iPhones are ONLY associated with jailbroken ones, and I don't think ministers will be doing that.
Also, iPhone supports exchange and will work with Microsoft products and iPhones are easier to use!
Irrespective of any security aspects, it is time to stop pandering to these people and give them a huge dose of reality. I do not need a smart phone and I run several businesses. This would be just another case of the public footing the bill for MP's to have the latest toys to show off. I have not forgotten what this lot get up to when not checked, the 50 inch tv's etc that the public have paid for.