These days, the chief executives and other leaders in the organization ask IT to connect their Apple iPad into their businesses. One of the more frequent questions chief executives, as well as their IT professionals, ask is if the iPad is secure in the office.

In my estimation, generally speaking, Microsoft exceeds in the enterprise company networks because of, among other reasons, the manageability of Microsoft networks. On the other hand, Apple is wildly successful in the consumer market for personal devices.

Expecting Microsoft to be the top performer in personal devices and/or expecting Apple to rein in the business networks of the world is, in my opinion, unreasonable. Yes, before Apple fans get their feathers all ruffled, there are exceptions to Apple working in business—especially for individual users connected to the corporate network. Additionally, new managed services can help solve the problems some people notice associated with centrally maintaining several Apple devices on the same network.

Apple is, in my estimation, working hard to get the iPad accepted and implemented in offices. To that end, Apple has adopted some security and business integration measures. For security in particular, refer to this informational PDF.

In summary, security features include:

• Support for WPA2 for Wi-Fi security (both PSK and Enterprise)
• Support for VPNs
• Password support including options for complexity, length, forced changes, lockout, etc.
• Integration with Exchange
• Ability for the IT department to enforce policies
• Remote data wipe
• PKI support including code signing requirements

Many of our clients are integrating the iPad into their organizations.

Will you or have you already used the iPad and/or another slate device on your corporate network?

Please post your comments on this blog.