Apple: All signs point to a more business friendly iPhone | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

Apple: All signs point to a more business friendly iPhone | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com: "If iPhone is going to get to 10 million units it needs to at least allay enterprise worries by hooking into Microsoft Exchange easily and providing other features that IT managers want. Let’s face it; enterprises will have to deal with the iPhone because their C-level execs already have one. Meanwhile, employees with iPhones are bringing them to work. IT managers need some sort of iPhone plan. All Apple has to do is meet companies half way and the iPhone won’t be outright banned.

Helge: Enterprise friendly, hmm, they are progressing.

And Cook’s comments about being wedded to AT&T–a model he maintains made sense for the launch–also point to more business adopters in the future. Why? Not every company has AT&T as a provider. If an iPhone could work with whatever carrier a company chooses it’s much more likely to be accepted. Part of the reason the BlackBerry works is that it plays well with any carrier a company may have.

Helge: Whatever Carrier is the next step.

If this works out for Apple the company could find itself in a business sweet spot with the iPhone. As software as a service (SaaS) takes hold the iPhone looks pretty damn useful because of its ease of browsing. Simply put, Salesforce.com just operates better on an iPhone. It’s just like you get on the PC.

Helge: Salesforce!

Cook also noted that there are more than 1,000 Web 2.0 apps for the iPhone. As Web 2.0 morphs into enterprise 2.0 the iPhone becomes more of an option. “Putting the SDK out will broaden the apps even more,” said Cook.

Helge: That's important and sounds like Facebook.