What's holding the iPhone back in enterprise

While we don't have any specific data on the success of iPhone penetration in the enterprise sector (we suspect it's deeper than most analysts estimate), there are clearly some bottlenecks to broader adoption. Easy pickings include a lack of full support for Exchange (though third-party solutions have materialized) and malfunctioning push mail.

We recently spoke with Ahmed Datoo of Zenprise, a developer of software that monitors and troubleshoots services for the current enterprise-smartphone king, the Blackberry. He offered the following iPhone qualms:

The iPhone doesn't allow for over the air (OTA) management. Datoo says: "These capabilities are critical for ensuring enterprise security." Because of the lack of conspicuous over-the-air management tools, you can't remote-wipe the device in case device gets lost or stolen, enforce passwords on all devices, or provision and configure devices wirelessly. Administrators also can't disable features that are considered security risks like Bluetooth, the camera, and SMS.

Datoo also said that the iPhone's reliance on iTunes for synchronization and installation of software is a detractor for enterprise. "Many enterprise restrict installation of iTunes on desktop," he said.

Also critical to future enterprise success, per Datoo, is the addition of auditing capabilities to see phone usage, SMS utilization, etc.

What's your take? Are you using the iPhone in an enterprise environment? If so, what's hampering? If not, what's missing? Let us know.