In spite of the continued misgivings on the part of some analysts and CIOs, the iPhone and its 140-thousand strong (gorilla of an) App Store continue to make their presence known throughout the business world and in the enterprise. In other words, the iPhone is here to stay whether IT likes or not.

IDC recently reported that the iPhone accounted for 14.4 percent of the global smartphone market last year, up from a little over 9 percent in 2008--remarkable for a mobile platform that hit the market a mere 2.5 years ago. Research In Motion (RIM), which came in second with 19.2 percent in 2009, grew its share by 4.2 percent over last year (see table below).

Nokia continued to hold an impressive lead over its two closest rivals, commanding a 38.2 percent share of shipments. However, unlike Apple and RIM, Nokia's piece of the smartphone pie shrank by nearly two percentage points from 2008.

What should be even more alarming to business-stalwart RIM is the results of J.D. Power and Associates' annual Wireless Business Smartphone Satisfaction Study. According to the survey, which poled close to 1,400 business wireless customers, the iPhone ranked higher than the BlackBerry in a number of categories, including ease of operation, operating system, design, features and battery life (see second table).

So what's IT and a company's internal development department to do to support the growing iPhone presence? And how can they leverage the iPhone itself to better perform their daily information technology tasks?

Let us know what you think.