iPhone 6, Apple Watch set new bar for enterprise mobile computing

You might think the big news this week is Apple’s unveiling of the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch. And you’d be right. Almost.

For CIOs, the news is not about the devices, per se, but what these (by most reports) wonderful new gadgets portend for enterprise IT. As SearchCIO Associate Site Editor Fran Sales reports this week, experts believe the devices will force CIOs to upgrade their mobile strategies.

Take the Apple Watch. JP Gownder, a Forrester analyst who focuses on wearable technology, thinks the device’s health and fitness tracking features paired with its retailers and healthcare providers makes it “a value proposition that’s different from simply pulling a phone out of one’s pocket.”

But here’s the really interesting point. Gownder thinks the market for wearable devices in the enterprise might eventually overshadow the consumer market. Astounding, if true.

The iPhone 6 will make its own waves within the enterprise world.  CIOs will have to think about apps for iPhones with larger screens; they will also have to contend with the fact that Apple’s expanded ecosystem of partners brings a more seamless experience to users.

As Sales put it, Apple is reducing the friction between between technology and humans — again.

In other news this week, AT&T has a new CIO; experts say Home Depot’s payment card breach may have exceeded Target’s breach; 5 million Gmail addresses and passwords have been leaked, and more in this week’s Searchlight.