iPhone 5S launch and iOS7 release date will signal change for enterprise

Apple usually gives dates for its next iOS release during its big event around the newest iPhone (5S or 5C) launch in September. This year talk of when and how iOS 7 will be released is creating the regular fervor, almost as much as the enthusiasm around the actual iPhone excitement. One of the top searches trending on Google right now is centered on the iOS 7 release date.

iPhone users, myself included, want to see the new OS partly because competitive devices have some pretty nifty features that would be nice to have. In my work on prepaid and no-contract phones, I often have one or two loaned iPhones in my mobile arsenal. Unlike my Android loaner collection, the experience doesn’t vary with an Apple phone — iOS is iOS, no matter the wireless carrier. So, the Aio Wireless iPhone 5 that is in my hand right now looks and acts like any other carrier. That’s a bit of a relief, frankly, and why Apple also dominates in the enterprise at the app level.

Despite all the eye candy of new colors and new icons or buttons, the sweetness is in the operating system and how tech teams can control data and apps. Normally, I would not spend much time on an operating system release, however, this one stands out thanks to an in-depth conversation I had with an Oracle executive about the strength of Apple’s OS in the enterprise and in small-to-midsized companies.

In a nutshell, this exec explained how Apple’s OS is more secure and stable for IT managers that have to deal with a host of growing BYOD (bring your own device) issues. Enterprises can lock down their apps and data in iOS in ways that Android systems/apps cannot or will not. iOS 7 will allow even greater control.

In an excellent ReadWrite post, contributor Nolan Wright, discusses 3 Ways iOS 7 Will Force Enterprises to Change and states, “With iOS 7, savvy companies will recognize a hugely expanded palette for the kinds of apps they build, whether for customers or employees or both. Given the increasingly experience-driven economy, delivering great user experiences has become the new competitive edge. Companies in tight markets will see iOS 7 as a way to gain a leg up.”

You see, part of the ongoing argument in mobile circles as to whether you should develop a native app (as in iOS or Android) or try to work in more open standards like HTML 5, as one example, which is supposed to cut across platforms, to offer content or functionality on a mobile device. iOS 7 offers more options for businesses that want to develop on the platform. According to Wright, “the strategy embedded in iOS 7—it’s the apps and data in those apps that need to be controlled, not the entire device.”

Last week, GigaOm produced a report on cross-platform mobile app development that business owners may appreciate.

Thanks to my Forbes colleague, Anthony Wing Kosner, we have some insight into how one overlooked feature might also have important relevance to business users. This showcases innovation from Apple that I believe will expand typical location-based services (think marketing). I’ve linked his post in the left sidebar on Micro-Location iBeacons, but here’s a short quote from it:

“Thanks to a really detailed discussion by Daniel Eran Dilger at AppleInsider, we can now see the full implications of the iBeacons ranging and micro-location capabilities included in iOS 7… iBeacons is an implementation of the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) profile which enables very precise micro-location triggers for events in iOS 7 apps. Already an industry is mobilizing to create hardware and software services to take advantage of these new geofencing capabilities.”

While new iOS releases often seemed aimed at just consumers — many of those consumers are business users taking their devices to work (BYOD). Apple is working to serve their very loyal consumers (understatement?), of course, but it has never forgotten the enterprise. The insight I gained in my Oracle conversation is that many apps and data layers that never make it to the iTunes App Store have millions of users and technology teams rely on these OS upgrades in ways we don’t normally consider. I believe one of the reasons Apple dominates is because they pay attention to both consumers and the enterprise.