Excitement Builds for Enterprise Smartphones

he cumulative pressure of the introductions, acquisitions and general buzz in the smartphone world have finally done it: This roiling change has made the multi-platform enterprise an accepted reality, and one that must be planned for.

“The smartphone market on a global basis has had tremendous growth for each quarter for the past two or three years,” says Chris Jones, a principal analyst forCanalys. “There are more platforms, and many of these are enterprise-focused.”

 For years, the leading – and in many cases only – authorized corporate smartphones was the BlackBerry from Research in Motion. Indeed, people were using the device, and the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) to which it connects, before there even was a distinct and recognized category called the smartphone.

This week, Palm entered into an agreement to be acquired by HP. Clearly, HP, which also recently acquired networking vendor 3Com, is making a consolidated play to increase its already considerable influence in the enterprise. Analysts are undecided about the prudence of the move, but agree that Palm’s webOS is a quality operating system that could have an impact in the enterprise.

The question marks observers raise are more about the melding of corporate cultures and vision. It’s not about Palm’s technology. Assuming the deal closes, it is clear that Palm, which has a long enterprise history, has gone from the periphery to a central position in the corporate smartphone arena. Telecom and IT staffs thus have another significant player to think about.

The other news is that Apple is sharpening its business cred as well. In early April, the company took the wraps off the iPhone OS 4.0, which is expected to hit the street in early June. The new system features enhancements that make the iPhone more attractive to corporate users, such as extended multitasking, enterprise distribution that bypasses the App Store and improved security.

The news items are important in and of themselves, but also tell a bigger story: Since cell phones began getting smarter, observers have warned that a day will come when enterprises must confront an issue that is a step above simply picking an OS. They must work out a strategy for incorporating a growing array of sophisticated and mission-critical smartphone devices – many of which appear on the scene with little warning – in a systematic way.