I got some interesting feedback from my recent post, Can Apple Take Over the Enterprise? Kontra, over at CounterNotions, seems to think there are no significant challengers to Apples huge marketshare gains in the recent months:

Who then can challenge Apple?Not Palm or Motorola (extremely weak and rudderless leadership); not RIM (no OS level hw/sw integration, little UI and very limited consumer market expertise)…

Our company has used Windows Mobile devices for several years, and has recently launched a BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) offering geared towards our Sales personnel. I have found the UI for the BlackBerry to be better as a phone, but less rich as a PDA. We now run a blended strategy of both BES and ActiveSync solutions. It has been our observation that less technically-inclined individuals prefer the BlackBerry solution, whereas technically-inclined people tend to prefer the gadgets offered by a Windows Mobile device.

The BES solution offers stability, granular security control, and a superior phone experience to that of Windows Mobile devices. However, The Windows Mobile ActiveSync (same platform Apple is basing their Enterprise Roadmap upon) option is less costly and natively supports Outlook/PDA integration on the fly (without use of 3rd party solutions).

While I have not personally used the iPhone, if the Touch is any indication of how well a UI can perform, the phone must be a wonderful marriage of form and function. BlackBerry and Windows Mobile alike have met the needs of their customers, but have not followed a basic tenant, “technology should improve the lives of those it touches.”

The iPhone is realistically the device to match this tenant, but Apple has hooked their wagon to that of Microsoft, an arch-rival in the desktop arena. Add to this, ActiveSync is not perceived as being an enterprise-class solution by many in the circles I travel, but it has its place in the SMB. This will help Apple continue to gain marketshare, but not enough to oust RIM in OS version 2.0.

RIM hasn’t done itself any favors with its recent patent infringement suits and NOC outages. Microsoft and Apple were both quick to point out their solution did not have such weaknesses. Needless to say, RIM enjoys a dominant spot in the enterprise for a reason, it is a solid performer and is perceived to be much more secure (from this writers perspective this has been mostly true).

It was a bold move for Apple to forge into an extremely competitive space, and they will need to strategically innovate to continue their growth. For now, Apple is beholden to Microsoft and AT&T, but is seemingly biding its time, waiting for a choice opportunity to strike.

I predict Apple will continue to gain marketshare and will be able to better negotiate deals with vendor/partners once they have established themselves as a dominant player. The next strategic step for Apple and RIM might be to port the Blackberry agent across to the iPhone, just like RIM did with Windows Mobile; that might serve Apple’s need to push a superior hardware model while protecting RIM’s base of licensees. Could that pave the way for a merger or acquisition? Hmm… that’s definitely worth chewing on!

Tags: apple, BlackBerry, iphone, Microsoft, RIM