Something mobile this way comes: is the BlackBerry or iPhone better for enterprise?

David M Williams
Monday, 06 July 2009 18:20

Opinion and Analysis

Despite the deals for BlackBerry traffic, very few telcos offer unlimited flat-priced data plans for Windows Mobile and iPhone units. You are required to apply a data plan but run the risk of choosing something too small – and consequently incur excess usage fees – or choose something too large – and pay more each month than you need to.

You need to monitor usage to spot when someone has exceeding their usage allowance and requires their plan be adjusted.

If I had to choose only one device it would be the BlackBerry. The iPhone is purely an indulgence and one which is not a good corporate piece of equipment due to many issues like those above. I may enjoy the iPhone’s sleek good looks and current popularity but it is the BlackBerry which offers the greatest e-mail experience.

So, you might ask, why would Galen Gruman reject it so strongly, with such damning words?

Gruman himself tells us. He explains that he never used any form of smartphone until just twelve months ago. Actually, he still didn’t adopt a smartphone but an iPod Touch (presumably with version 2.0 software because the original iPod Touch did not offer e-mail.)

It is an interesting choice to opt for an iPod Touch for PDA which suggests some predisposition towards Apple products. Possibly Gruman actually purchased the iPod Touch as a portable music player before deciding to avail himself of its PDA capabilities.

Gruman comments that he is unable to read the special alt-character symbols on the BlackBerry keypad without his glasses. Although I sympathise – and have a more mature-aged colleague who suffers the same plight – this is not a fault you can ascribe to the unit, nor something unique to the BlackBerry either.

Yet, the most telling comment is when Gruman says he spent a month with both an iPhone 3G and a BlackBerry Bold to write his article. He didn’t spend a month on each, that is two months, but a month in total.

When I’m evaluating gadgets and technology I appreciate the comments of experienced advisors. I know if I were evaluating whether to deploy BlackBerry handhelds in my company I’d certainly prefer to trust the words of someone who has used one every day for five years over those of someone who makes sweeping judgements with barely a month of part-time exposure.

My views are not unique. Reader feedback published by InfoWorld notes that Gruman’s comparison failed because he was not a proficient BlackBerry user, that he clearly did not have it connected to a BES, and that he plainly and simply needed to spend more time with both devices.

No, RIM need feel no embarrassment (except possibly for the BlackBerry Storm) because when it comes to secure corporate data, when it comes to controlling the costs of your fleet of smartphones, when it comes to the ultimate in mobile e-mail, it is the BlackBerry alone that reigns.