iPad security: IT's foolish double standard Yet another analyst report fails the iPad on security -- and Neanderthal IT puts another nail in its coffin

There they go again, those Neanderthal IT folks who use security as a reason to resist change. A recent Computerworld story cites unnamed analysts as giving the iPad an "F" for its security features, then quotes Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney on why iPhones shouldn't be used in the enterprise:

Despite Apple's updates and the inclusion of the Cisco VPN, Dulaney said Gartner concludes that the iPad is "not enterprise ready ... and Apple would have no problem with Gartner saying this was not enterprise ready. ... We don't endorse use of netbooks, and the iPad is in the same category. ... We don't think it has the security and manageability capabilities for offline applications and, more importantly, the support of Apple for the enterprise."

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Dulaney is a smart guy, and Gartner tends to be conservative in its recommendations; it was one of the first analyst firms to backtrack on promoting Windows Vista, for example, and it traditionally tells IT to avoid major operating system updates until 18 months or so after the initial version ships. Thus, I know he's being honest in his cautious approach. It's clear his standard applies to a broad range of devices, not just iPads.