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Apr. 22, 2010 at 8:18am with 2 notes View comments

Does the iPad Have Enough Corporate Testosterone?

While I was in Phoenix, Randy Eckel of Marker Advisors showed me his iPad running the Citrix Receiver for iPad. Randy runs a hedge fund advisory covering IT: VDI (virtual desktop integration) and security. In a stunning testosterone-driven demo (heaven forbid the two words Apple and testosterone appear in the same sentence) the application flawlessly accessed his desktop server running Bloomberg. He also was using his iPhone as a mouse surface. The iPhone was connected to the iPad via Bluetooth.

Afterwards, we had a healthy discussion about what this could mean for both VDI and Apple. Apple has never been taken seriously within the corporate firewall. Why? The lack of integration points, software, and TCO. (Some have said Steve Jobs is the problem. I won’t comment on that.) On the other hand, Citrix and others have perfected desktop virtualization and now a suitable sub-$1K netbook solution exists.

A price cut might be all that’s needed to get the iPad into Corporate America. Everything else about it appears to meet corporate standards:

No virus software required. The SDK is pretty tight.
Maintenance is attractive and Apple Care is very responsive.
Updates are handled via the iPhone store or via Synchronization.

What’s missing?

Desktop Inventory / Remote Desktop Audit Software?
Strong controls between directory entry sharing inside and outside of the company?

Anything else? Does there need to be additional divisions or controls for the iPad to be suitable for corporate use? What would it take for Apple to create a corporate version? Is it a big enough market?