enterprise features that aren’t included in Apple’s core operating system. Apple actually does have an Active Directory plugin now for Mac OS X, but it’s not nearly as robust as ADmitMac. That’s the best illustration I can give you.
X: Where do you think that particular blind spot comes from? Is it from Steve Jobs’ fixation on the user experience for consumers?
CG: He’s opportunistic for enterprise, but he’s not focused on it. He has said that to me directly in meetings. The iPhone was launched as a consumer device, and if enterprises happen to buy millions of them, that’s great, but that doesn’t mean Apple is all of a sudden going to create enterprise functionality, because it’s not on their radar. That said, you never know when you’re doing business with Apple. They could take a left or a right and come out with their own version of EASE. We are making a bet with this platform that they won’t.
X: How does the iPad change everything you’ve been talking about?
CG: It doesn’t change things, it just accentuates the issue. You see more and more people wanting to buy the iPad for things like their sales forces, product demonstrations, collaboration. You’re seeing a lot of stuff in pharma and healthcare, with people looking at it for things like electronic medical records. You’re seeing a lot of really creative applications for it for enterprise usage. So it’s just accentuating the fact that there needs to be a better way to manage apps on these devices.
X: If all goes well with the launch of EASE, what will things look like for Apperian a year from now?
CG: We hope to work with some of these huge brands that we’ve built apps for already and who are now thinking about deploying in-house apps. We hope they are all using EASE and that we have a couple hundred thousand happy users and happy IT departments managing their applications.
