By Brian Boyko
“Jesus has come back, and he’s a phone now.”
The Apple iPhone might not be the second coming, but it will certainly be popular. Already the Web is being inundated by speculation, information, mis-information, rumor, innuendo, and anyone with an opinion on Apple writing about the iPhone.
So we thought: Why buck the trend?
The truth is that when this device comes out, many people are going to buy the iPhone, they will use it at their jobs – including those in a corporate IT environment – and that means it is going to become the responsibility of the IT manager.
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Compounding this is the idea that the iPhone is a device that’s “just a phone” or “just an iPod” or “just a phone that plays music” that end users have. IT managers typically aren’t worried about people bringing personal cell phones or personal iPods into the office (except for worries about data integrity – the iPod is basically an external hard drive,) and end-users aren’t used to the idea of having to check with IT whenever they bring a palm pilot, cellphone, or iPod into the office.
But the iPhone isn’t just a phone, isn’t just an iPod, and isn’t just a palmtop. It’s got stripped down functionality, sure, but it is a full computer, with WiFi network connectivity to the Internet. Sadly, end-users aren’t going to see it that way. Hell – Apple even changed its name from Apple Computer, Inc., to Apple, Inc. – because, according to Steve Jobs, Apple doesn’t just make computers, they make a whole lot of devices, and they sell more devices than they do computers. And if they buy it themselves, as many are likely to do, they’re going to ask uncomfortable questions about why IT is concerned with “my own phone.”
Which means that IT managers are going to have to start worrying about this device now, rather than down the road.
For example, if end-users have access to WiFi keys, they might be used on the iPod to make VoIP calls using the apple phone – and even with compression, that can take about 31.2 kbps per call. A few VoIP calls can start slowing down a congested link – especially if you don’t have any VoIP QoS policies in place – because your company is still using plain old telephone service.
Even without VoIP calling, many want to use the iPhone’s capabilities for Web browsing and e-mail, and if they’re connecting through your network, that’s another point where security is needed. The benefits of connectivity outweigh the drawbacks here – the iPhone’s Web browsing capability could be used for SaaS easy-access, such as Google Documents. Or, imagine if your sales force had access to salesforce.com from their pockets?
That’s another question – will this device have VPN support so that traveling employees can get the information they need while on the road?
And if they do – how do you secure the data? The iPhone, like all small devices, is easy to lose, and easy to steal. That makes it vulnerable to illicit access. Does the iPhone have cryptographic abilities to make sure data stays safe?
The worst case scenario is that the moment the first employee walks in that day in June when the iPhones come out, he adds a computer to your network, and all sorts of random things can happen. This isn’t just a problem with iPhones, but with all sorts of these mobile devices, from palmtops to USB drives to digital cameras. There’s too many devices with network or computer connectivity out there, the platforms and OSes get changed very frequently and come from many vendors. “Test then deploy” becomes increasingly difficult as users “deploy” the devices by bringing them in from home, without a second thought, and without contacting IT.
As everyone is worried about the features, price, and perceived popularity of the iPhone, it may be worth it to take a good look at what the iPhone – and the other devices like it in the years to come – mean for your network.
Brian Boyko is editor of Network Performance Daily and New Media Communications Specialist at NetQoS
Technorati Tags: iPhone IT+policy networking network+engineering network+security voip
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