APPLE'S new operating system iOS 7 has been causing quite a stir since it was released two weeks ago. From the accentuated bright design and undemanding layout, everyone has been a critic as to whether it's the "most significant update yet" or "it's too simplistic".
But, one thing is for sure, while Apple has slowly been dominating the corporate market for the last few years, the technology giant isn't relaxing its efforts and makes a big play for businesses with the latest overhaul. iOS 7 offers more advanced ways to deploy devices and deliver a great user experience for your employees. Firms, big and small, are the targets of Apple's new promotional webpage entitled "iOS 7 and Business." On the page, Apple runs through the benefits and new features which it says will "provide more for organisations of all sizes". It's a sure-fire confirmation that Apple is acknowledging that such devices are increasingly being used in a corporate setting.
With a growing number of companies accepting the "Bring Your Own" (BYO) trend, in which personal mobiles, tablets and laptops are being used for work purposes, the new features recognise that sensitive data may be opened on an unsecure device.
To combat this, iOS 7 has a new feature entitled "Managed Open In" which controls which apps and accounts can open certain attachments. This element gives IT departments the ability to arrange the list of apps, and prevents any other personal documents from being opened in those particular "managed" apps. For many employees who need a secure way to connect to their company's computer network from a remote location, one popular technology is a Virtual Private Network (VPN.) This essentially uses a public network, like the internet, to gain safe and secure access to their private network. Another new feature of the iOS 7 is
the "Per App VPN" which will control which apps automatically connect to the VPN when launched. It ensures that corporate data transmitted by these apps travels through VPN and that other data, like an employee's personal web browsing activity, does not. And in one of the biggest security updates yet, all third-party apps now have data protection enabled automatically, just like the Apple apps already assigned to the phone. It means that all information stored in those apps is encrypted resulting in all sensitive company data being much more secure than before. While it's clear that Apple is facilitating the increasing corporate BYO strategy, one also has to sit back and wonder whether it's more to do with sweeping in and grabbing their competitors' much-documented ailing business market. ? Eric Carson is director of Rainbow Communications and can be contacted via www.rainbowcomms.com. Rainbow Communications can also be followed on Twitter - @Rainbow_Comms