iOS and Android Devices Continue Their Assault on Enterprise

While RIM has been a stalwart in the enterprise market, iOS and Android devices are finding fast adoption by corporate customers, according to new figures from Good Technology.

Good, which provides management and security tools that allow companies to deploy smartphones, found that iOS devices represented more than 50 percent of new activations from June to September, fueled by interest in the iPhone 4 and the iPad. Android activations accounted for almost 30 percent of new activations over that period, while Windows Mobile devices represented 15 percent of net new adds over that time.

This doesn’t include RIM numbers, because most of those customers use a BlackBerry Enterprise Server and don’t need to rely on technology like Good’s. However, it does give some insight into how well iOS and Android, two platforms not designed for enterprise, are doing in that market.

Among individual devices, the iPhone 4 is now the top activated device, despite only being launched in late June. The iPhone 3GS is in second place, followed by the iPad, another new addition that has zoomed into one of the top spots. The top five is rounded out by the Droid X and the HTC Cedar, a Windows Mobile device.

The biggest leaps from May to September were by iOS and Android devices. The iPhone 4 jumped from about 27 percent to about 32 percent from July to September, while the iPad grew from 5 percent to about 12 percent from May to September. The Droid X climbed from 7 percent to about 11 percent from July to September, and the Droid 2 debuted in September at 5 percent.

By platform, iOS commands 56 percent of Good activations in September, trailed by Android at 28 percent. Microsoft is suffering a predictable slide with Windows Mobile from more than 20 percent in June to about 13 percent in September as it waits for the October launch of Windows Phone 7.

The Good figures don’t include an aggregate number of activations so it’s hard to know how this compares to RIM. But Good Technology said it has thousands of companies that use its technology, including 40 of the Fortune 100.

What’s interesting to note is how Apple and Android devices are increasingly being accepted into enterprise. Bloomberg recently reported that several banks, including JPMorgan Chase, are looking at supporting iPhones and Android devices as an alternative to BlackBerry devices. Apple said on its most recent quarterly call in July that 80 percent of Fortune 100 companies are deploying or testing the iPhone while 50 percent of the companies are doing the same with the iPad.

I’m sure it has a lot to do with the popularity of iPhone and Android devices and the shift to bring-your-own-device policies that many companies are adopting, part of a larger trend in the consumerization of IT, but it demonstrates that companies are increasingly seeing the value of mobilizing their workforce, and are embracing a wide array of new devices. Having a technology like Good’s certainly helps in enterprise adoption of these devices, but the move toward mobility would have happened either way.