How Effective iOS 7 would be for Entrepreneurs

Apple has transformed the entire OS designing industry with the design of iOS 7. It has given it a much-needed refresh, up-to-date, cleaner look and feel. After the formal announcement of iOS 7 at WWDC, rumours were that Apple has once again focussed on general consumers with a flurry of apps such as iTunes, radio, Air Drop, a camera and enhancements like comprehensive control centre and improvised safari browser. These features gave strength to the persisting rumours that I mentioned above. In this situation, the question is whether Apple will be able to prove its effectiveness as a feasible platform for enterprises and business owners. Few impressive features are the clear evidence that the upcoming iOS 7 is as good for business owners as it is for general consumers. Let us have a look at a few of them.

1. Security – Apple has been getting repeated threats from its competitors in terms of maintaining the security. Samsung is almost on the verge of launching its KNOX feature, which will allow users to keep a safe distance between the personal and the professional data. There is something very similar that blackberry is developing secretly and will be integrating very soon in its blackberry 10. In this situation, it is expected that Apple will also be planning to devise something similar, details of which are still kept under the curtain.

Apple has been going gaga about its "Activation Lock" which is likely to enhance the level of security to both personal and the professional data. Apple has made it tough to deactivate "Find My iPhone" application. It will allow users to wipe out all the data before the thief removes it or misuse it. Once data is wiped out, it will get even tougher to reactivate the phone and would be possible only by the user. These benefits look diluted from the business point of view, unless business owners implement a comprehensive MDM policy.

2. MDM – iOS 7 has been improvised to respond to enterprise's demand of integrating with the MDM software in a better manner. One of Apple's competitors has recently launched a feature to allow users to integrate with preferred MDM vendors and use solutions offered by them. MDM integration was one of Apple's topmost priorities while it started designing iOS 7.

3. Enterprise apps – In iOS 7, Apple has further strengthened data protection for enterprises by introducing single sign-on feature. Details of this feature are still unclear but single sign-on will allow users to log-on in one enterprise app such as a Sales Order app and browse all other apps such as CRM and others without logging repeatedly. This will make iOS 7 more intuitive and user friendly for business owners and entrepreneurs.

4. Default data production – Apple has enabled data protection to the default mode in the upcoming iOS 7. This means that whether developers will use encryption for data protection or not, the data of that app will be encrypted. As soon as the app is installed, data encryption will be enabled in it.

Apart from above-mentioned, several other features have the potential of supporting business owners in running their businesses. These features may not be new for Apple users but it would be interesting to see how Apple designers have moulded them to help business owners in their pursuit of using it for professional reasons. As for now, with these applications and tools in mind, the fact that upcoming iOS 7 is equally good for business owners as it is for general consumers cannot be ruled out.