Apple's release last week of the new iOS 4.2 version its mobile operating system added some long awaited new bells and whistles for iPad users, but, more importantly for the enterprise, adds some key management tools for IT administrators. 

If Apple is to be believed, enterprises are deploying iPads in droves – on its most recent earnings call, the company said more than 65 percent of the Fortune 100 are testing the iPad. And the new mobile management and mobile security features of iOS 4.2 should make the iPad considerably more friendly for IT professionals to support.

Potentially fanning the flames of the growing IT consumerization movement, Cisco has made its AnyConnect Security Mobility software available for iOS 4.1 through the Apple App Store, potentially addressing security concerns of enterprises that are increasingly allowing employees to use personal iPhones and iPads for corporate business.

The Cisco AnyConnect software, which also works with the iPod Touch,  provides encrypted network connectivity from any Apple iOS 4 device for accessing business email, virtual desktop sessions, or most other iOS 4 applications, Cisco says on its website. The software uses Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) to provide TCP-based applications and latency-sensitive traffic (such as VoIP) an optimized communication path to corporate resources.

Hewlett-Packard this week introduced a new cloud-based mobile device management system and is seeking telecom companies willing to offer the tool as a managed service to midsized buisnesses.

The the unfortunately named service – HP Cloud Services Enablement for Device Management as a Service (HP CSE for DMaaS) – is based on mobile device management software from Mformation Technologies Inc. It allows IT staff to manage mobile devices and PCs through a secure, customizable web portal, according to HP. Using over-the-air technology they can configure devices, distribute applications, diagnose problems, enforce security policies and protect data with full back-up and restore capability.  

Apple's iPhone, wildly popular among consumers, is changing the way the enterprise views mobile computing, an AT&T exec told Wall Street last week.

Four out of every 10 iPhones sold is to enterprise users, Ron Spears, president and CEO of  AT&T Business Solutions, told analysts at the Barclays Capital Communications, Media and Technology conference in New York. The iPhone has addressed the initial security concerns that gave enterprises pause, compared to RIM's Blackberry platform, he said, suggesting that the iPhone and other smartphones may be cutting into notebook sales.

Most CIOs and IT professionals hate to support smartphones and personal gadgets that employees bring to work. But now state government CIOs are being urged to do just that.

A new study by the National Association of State CIOs recommends states consider allowing employees to use personal smartphones for work. In an update to its "Security at the Edge" research report on the use of smartphones in state government, NASCIO says that the use of employee-owned smartphones can save IT organizations money and be a viable alternative to government-issued devices during a time of shrinking budgets.

Apple may be conceding the enterprise to RIM's Blackberry, but third-party developers and its carrier partner, AT&T are not.

AT&T yesterday unveiled a new iPhone app designed to let users securely access to enterprise Web applications from their phones and to bring iPhones deployed for business under IT control.