AT&T Mobility repositions iPhone for business users: Apple’s SDK scheduled for release next month

AT&T Mobility is now selling the consumer-oriented iPhone by Apple Inc. as a productivity tool for business.
The move may be in tandem with an anticipated introduction of Lotus Notes e-mail from IBM for the iPhone, to be announced at Lotusphere 2008 in Orlando this week, according to media reports.
Such a repositioning would answer the iPhone’s most-cited weakness: a lack of enterprise-grade, secure e-mail.
The carrier now enables business users to buy the device and, with permission from their corporate IT manager, have the data plan billed to the corporation, according to AT&T Mobility spokesman Bill Marks. To entice business users, the carrier is offering a $25 per month credit through the end of the year on data plans activated between today and March 31, Marks said. The spokesman said he had no information on any pending applications for the iPhone.
In December, CIO magazine ran an article titled, “10 Reasons IT Should Not Support the iPhone,” based on research by Forrester Research that pointed to the device’s lack of data encryption, the lack of native corporate e-mail support and its closed operating system that precluded specialized business applications.
iPhone SDK
Apple has promised to make a software development kit (SDK) available by next month, a move apparently intended to answer some of the device’s omissions.
It was not immediately clear whether IBM, AT&T Mobility or Apple will also provide device management capabilities or partner with companies that enable remote “bricking” of lost or stolen iPhones that could contain valuable corporate data.
The iPhone is currently one of 65 handsets and several laptop modems listed under mobile business devices on AT&T Mobility’s Web site. “It’s also a great communications and productivity tool for business professionals,” reads the device’s description. Under rate plans, the carrier cautions that the iPhone and related accessories are not eligible for corporate equipment discounts — that is, bulk discounts. Nor are corporate iPhone users able to participate in the carrier’s program for splitting billing between the user and his or her corporation.
(No word on whether people wearing suits will be allowed to pay cash for the device; that practice is now banned to forestall resale of the device for personal profit.)
Enterprise plans
The carrier offers three enterprise data plans for iPhone users: 200 SMS and unlimited domestic use of Web and e-mail for $45 per month; 1,500 SMS and unlimited Web and e-mail for $55; or unlimited SMS and Web and e-mail for $65. The carrier also offers 20 MB of international data use for another $25/month, or 50 MB for $60 per month.
A Forrester analyst was not immediately available for comment on the carrier’s new program.