Yes, Apple does own the mobile enterprise

Saying that “Apple has an enterprise story” still feels kind of unfamiliar to those who have endured years of pouty-faced critics slamming the company and its products as “toys.” But all the data says Apple is grabbing an ever larger slice of one of the most important enterprise tech evolutions, the mobile enterprise.

Apple everywhere

The latest Good Technology Mobility Index Report for Q4 2014, published today,  provides ample proof the Apple now has a big enterprise story to tell.

Key facts for Apple-watchers include:

• iOS continues to win share from Android. iOS increased from 69 percent to 73 percent of enterprise device activations in Q4.
• Android took a remote second place; its share fell to 25 percent.
• Apple’s iPhone 6 family accounted for 30 percent of all activations in Q4, with the Plus model accounting for 23 percent of these.

These figures are based on Good Technology data collected from 6,200 organizations worldwide, including 100% of Fortune 100 commercial banks, aerospace and defense firms and more than half of the remaining Fortune 100 companies.

Microsoft v. Google

Microsoft’s decision to make its solutions available for both Android and iOS may be the only survival stance it can adopt, the report suggests: Windows Phone and Microsoft Surface held just 1 percent of the marketshare in device activations.

It is interesting to note that the gap between Microsoft and Android device deployments is much smaller than that between Android and iOS, which rather suggests we may see Microsoft fight Android to seize share in the workplace.

Perhaps preparing for this, Google has reached a détente with BlackBerry, which may help it combat Redmond but is unlikely to enable it to best Cupertino.

The late arrival of the so-called “Android for Work” scheme is only really likely to achieve traction in the event Microsoft allows it to dent its Office franchise.

Indeed, the Android versus Apple war looks increasingly like the Apple versus Samsung war, with Google helpfully providing the OS used by Apple’s “fast follower” Korean foe — though we continue to hear whispers of some friction between the two.

“Samsung accounted for nine of the top 10 most popular Android devices,” Good Technology said.

Security, security, privacy

Security is becoming an increasingly big deal.

A wave of high-profile cyberattacks alongside the revelation that governments, corporations and presumably criminals are probably spying on all of us all of the time (whether we want them to or not) has driven enterprise users to take steps.

“As enterprises are mobilizing content and apps, they are also fortifying their cyber resiliency with accelerated activations of secure mobile apps, which grew 65 percent during the fourth quarter and 300 percent during the year,” Good Technology observes.

There are also signs that CIOs from regulated enterprises don’t see Android as a suitably robust platform:

“Device adoption varies significantly between industries,” said Good Technology, “with iOS devices outpacing Android in regulated industries such as legal (95 percent), public sector (82 percent) and financial services (81 percent). Android was more widely adopted in industries with fewer regulatory compliance restrictions, such as high tech (45 percent), manufacturing (39 percent) and transportation (35 percent).”

There’s a move to adopt secure browsing technologies, activations of which increased by 197 percent quarter-over-quarter and was up 10fold year-over-year. Secure instant messaging activations also grew by 900 percent in 2014.

Apple and the enterprise is only part of it

This is all highly informative, but in combination with Apple’s alliance with IBM the trajectory here is pretty clear. Apple will be the platform of choice among enterprise users, opening up new opportunities for developers as they explore how to use these technologies to develop enterprise solutions users both like and use.

In the other corner, Android is a desperate platform. Despite having a huge market share, Android device makers are on a doomed race to the bottom, meaning the platform captured a record low 11 percent global smartphone profit share during Q4, claims Strategy Analytics. In contrast, Apple iOS took a record-high 89 percent profit share. Who has the sustainable business in this?

And as Apple prepares wearables and its plans for car electronics remain shrouded in mystery, it seems pretty clear the firm remains in pole position for further expansion.

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