It is not possible to use an iPhone until you have first connected it to a PC that has iTunes installed and run through the activation process (unless you are running iOS 5, which removes this requirement).

iTunes will then run the user through a wizard which will activate the device for service (the same also applies to the iPod Touch).

If the iPhone is being rolled out across a business, this means that the administrator must decide whether to install iTunes on each iPhone user’s PC, or activate all devices themselves on their own PC with iTunes installed.

NOTE – iTunes is only required for the activation process. Once activated, iTunes is not required to enable the device to access corporate systems, only to synchronise music, photos and videos.

iTunes is required, however, to install software updates onto the device.

NOTE – if your organization does not use Mircosoft Exchange, it is still possible to use the iPhone and iPod Touch with POP and IMAP-based email servers. Calendar and Contact entries can also be synchronized with the Address Book and iCal applications on MacOS and with Microsoft Outlook on a Windows PC via iTunes.

Configuring Devices

If you are only deploying a small number of devices, it may be preferable to allow users to configure their own devices. However, should a large number of devices be deployed, there are tools available to help.

The use of configuration profiles allows for a number of settings to be quickly and easily deployed to a large number of devices.

A configuration profile is an XML document that contains settings on Email, WiFi connections, VPN settings, certificates and security policy settings.

Profiles are distributed to devices either via email, as an attachment, or via a web link.

Configuration Profiles are created using the iPhone Configuration Utility, an application for both MacOS and Windows available for free download from the Apple web site:

http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/enterprise/

The interface for the utility looks like this:

A full explanation of the Configuration Utility can be downloaded from the Apple web site:

http://support.apple.com/manuals/en_US/Enterprise_Deployment_Guide.pdf

The General tab allows you enter a name and identifying information for the Profile.

The Passcode Settings tab allows the administrator to define an on-device password usage policy:

The maximum number of failed attempts field allows the administrator to define how many times the device password can be entered incorrectly before the device becomes unusable. By default, after six unsuccessful attempts the device imposes a time delay before a passcode can be entered again. The time delay increases with each failed attempt. After the eleventh failed attempt, the device is locked and must be reauthorised via iTunes.

The WiFi tab allows the administrator to define WiFi access points to be used by the device:

The VPN tab contains information on Virtual Private Network connection settings:

The Email Settings tab contains information on POP and IMAP-based email account settings:

The Exchange tab is where the settings relating to Server ActiveSync are entered:

You will notice the lack of a field to enter Domain information. This should be included in the Username field in the from "domain\username".

The Credentials tab is used to publish certificates to the device. CER, DER, CRT, P12 and PFX certificates types are supported.

The Advanced tab allows the administrator to define cellular access point settings:

Once the profile has been configured within the Utility, it can be Exported, which will create a ".mobileconfig" file (which can then be uploaded to a web site), or emailed as an attachment.

Update - the Apple iPhone Enterprise Configuration Utility has been updated to version 2.0 - http://blog.brightpointuk.co.uk/apple-iphone-configuration-utility-20