iNotes Ultralite on the iPhone
Inside IBM, we've been running an iPhone pilot for our employees and I wanted to share some of our experiences. While RIM Blackberry is IBM's corporate standard for smartphone, we've been exploring other platforms including Symbian S60 and the iPhone in order to meet the global needs of our employees. Earlier this year, we launched an iPhone pilot in conjunction with our iNotes 8.5 program and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
Employees at an IBM location are able to easily configure the built-in wi-fi on iPhone/iPod touch devices to connect to IBM's corporate wi-fi network. Users enter the URL of their mail database into the built-in Safari web browser to access the iNotes Ultralite web interface to mail, calendar and contacts. However, this solution will only work when at an IBM location. When away from the office, a VPN solution is needed to connect to the IBM network since IBM's mail server are located behind the corporate firewall. For our pilot, we selected Lotus Mobile Connect (LMC) which has a clientless VPN component. This means, there is nothing to install on the iPhone - the VPN is provide through the Safari browser on the iPhone. Users first authenticate to LMC before authenticating with iNotes (username and password).
Features that users like most about the iPhone:
Areas for improvement include:
Our pilot is currently scheduled to extend into 2009. We're also running a Symbian S60 pilot with Lotus Traveler with equally positive results. I'll plan to post another update on this topic in January.
Employees at an IBM location are able to easily configure the built-in wi-fi on iPhone/iPod touch devices to connect to IBM's corporate wi-fi network. Users enter the URL of their mail database into the built-in Safari web browser to access the iNotes Ultralite web interface to mail, calendar and contacts. However, this solution will only work when at an IBM location. When away from the office, a VPN solution is needed to connect to the IBM network since IBM's mail server are located behind the corporate firewall. For our pilot, we selected Lotus Mobile Connect (LMC) which has a clientless VPN component. This means, there is nothing to install on the iPhone - the VPN is provide through the Safari browser on the iPhone. Users first authenticate to LMC before authenticating with iNotes (username and password).
Features that users like most about the iPhone:
- Design, user interface and ease of use
- AppStore - rich selection of applications (many free) and an easy way to browse and install them (iTunes)
- Superior web browsing experience
- iNotes Ultralite user interface and ease of use
Areas for improvement include:
- A push e-mail solution for a segment of the population to complement the online browser-based iNotes Ultralite solution
- A Sametime Instant Messaging solution
- The ability to access more that just e-mail through the clientless VPN solution (today, each URL that the user wants to access needs to be configured separately in LMC)
- An easier way to authenticate with the LMC clientless VPN rather than having to enter the username/password each time (e.g. certificate based)
- Improved device management solution from Apple (e.g. device policies, wipe and lock etc.)
- Enhancements to allow IBM greater flexibility to develop and deploy its own applications for internal use
- The onscreen keyboard presents challenges for some users, particularly those with larger fingers (like me!)
Our pilot is currently scheduled to extend into 2009. We're also running a Symbian S60 pilot with Lotus Traveler with equally positive results. I'll plan to post another update on this topic in January.
