Today is the day that many gadget junkies have been waiting for – Apple’s iPhone is finally going on sale at AT&T wireless stores around the country. Much has been written and reported about its cool features and it will be interesting to see if the fever pitch media hype leading-up to its release can live up to the expectations and real world demands of the common cell phone user.

For many companies currently supporting corporate mobile email through services such as RIM’s Blackberry BES, Microsoft Mobile ActiveSync or Good Technology from Motorola a far different question arises: How will they support the iPhone on their existing infrastructure and what possible security risks does the device pose in the corporate context?

The Wall Street Journal published an article last week titled: “Companies Hang Up on Apple’s iPhone”, which discussed the issue.

“Mr. Caraher, technology director of von Briesen & Roper, a Milwaukee law firm, says he is being besieged by inquiries from employees wondering whether the office’s email system can be used with the device.

His answer, at least initially, has been no. The main problem is that the iPhone can’t send and receive email through the company’s corporate BlackBerry email servers. He says he is unwilling to look into workarounds, because they might compromise the company’s security.”

Like it or not, company executives and hipster summer interns alike will show-up next Monday touting their shiny new iPhone’s and they will find a way to get them connected to the company networks and email. Email forwarding to personal accounts on AOL, Gmail, Yahoo! and the likes will probably be a common workaround for receiving corporate mail at least initially.

While many companies are taking the wait-and-see approach, some are smarter about it and pro-actively address the issue.

“Bear Stearns Cos. last week sent its global staff of 15,000 an email saying that the iPhone won’t work with the company’s email service.”

I think companies are well advised to go one step further and clearly articulate a policy around iPhone usage. This could range from outright prohibiting its use to providing acceptable usage guidelines and workarounds in lieu of a fully integrated solution.

However, there is some good news. Smaller software vendors are seizing the opportunity. Visto, a Redwood City, CA provider of mobile business solutions just announced Secure Corporate Email for Apple iPhone, supporting both MS-Exchange and Lotus Notes. I’m sure the larger platform vendors will follow suit very quickly.

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