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VIRTUALISATION Something mobile this way comes: is the BlackBerry or iPhone better for enterprise?
VIRTUALISATION Something mobile this way comes: is the BlackBerry or iPhone better for enterprise? | Something mobile this way comes: is the BlackBerry or iPhone better for enterprise? |
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| by David M Williams | |
| Tuesday, 07 July 2009 | |
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Galen Gruman published the evocatively-titled though over-paginated “Deathmatch rematch: BlackBerry versus iPhone 3.0” on Friday. What struck me was that Gruman concluded, “The BlackBerry is yesterday’s mobile messenger, way past its prime and heading towards retirement. The iPhone is light-years ahead of the BlackBerry on almost every count. RIM [Research in Motion] should be ashamed.” As a heavy BlackBerry user I was left astounded that this view could be genuinely espoused. It was as far from my experience as might be possible. Let me tell you my BlackBerry background. I apologise in advance that this is lengthy but I trust my passion for the creative and genuine business benefits that mobility offers will come through. I have been bashing out messages on tiny QWERTY keypads for over five years. It was February 2004 that I first set up 20 blue 7230 models on Lotus Notes 6.0 and BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) 2.0. I was an enthusiastic adopter and within the first weekend wore a hole in my thumb from typing and exploring and browsing and configuring. I diagnosed my condition as “BlackBerry thumb” long before I heard it elsewhere in the media. I clearly succumbed to the so-called crackberry addiction, but with good reason. I’d often travel to regional branches of my company. Previously, my mobile phone would come in and out of reception while I drove through small towns. The period of coverage was long enough to be advised I had a voicemail message – from telephone calls that had come in while I was out of range – but not long enough to subsequently dial voicemail without stopping. As soon as I pulled in to these remote branches I always had to spend time checking voice and e-mail messages. By contrast, when I received the BlackBerry I would still go in and out of reception. The device wasn’t magical enough to prevent this, by any means. However, while driving through a town I would receive all my pending e-mails. I could read these during the trip when opportunity presented and would be fully up-to-date when arriving. I could even write responses which would be automatically sent when the device had reception again. E-mails aren’t voice calls, that’s true – but because the company knew I, and others, had BlackBerrys they would send e-mails if voice calls were unsuccessful. Additionally, by making more use of e-mail I could really turn the BlackBerry’s into a strategic advantage. While many experts might advocate cutting down on e-mail I believe sending more e-mail – so long as it is significant and properly structured for the small screen – can boost productivity. I’ll give you a real-world example. |
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