iBooks are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.
Many companies today are starting to recognize the importance of making their sales and marketing collateral stand out. At Mediafly, we believe this is a key differentiator for best in class companies.
There is also a popular opinion that the sleek designs and products required for the next generation of enterprise content would likely come from Apple first.
So when we started seeing large organizations using iBooks for enterprise content, it wasn’t that surprising. Sure, iBooks can sport impressive Multi-Touch brochures, interactive sales tools, and dynamic training documentation. But iBooks falls short on almost every other aspect beneath the surface-level aesthetics.
iBooks Aren’t Practical for Adoption
Let’s say your organization joins the iBooks club. That will work great for you, as long as everyone has Apple devices. iBooks do not work on a Samsung, Nexus, or Microsoft tablet. So in order to use iBooks at all, you will need to supply the whole team with brand new iPads.
Sensitive Internal Documents? Security Isn’t Where It Needs to Be.
Security still isn’t quite up to par. Our CTO, Jason Shah, covered his concerns with iBook’s security two years ago, and the same concerns remain unaddressed. Once an iBook is downloaded, it’s out of the enterprise’s control. iBooks are also huge files (with video and embedded widgets, they are massive), which can be put a strain on data plans and device storage. Plus, there is no built in reporting with iBooks. Upper management has no insight into who is actually downloading, reading, and interacting with content delivered via iBooks or how that content is being utilized.
Your Workload Increases
When it comes time to start putting together flashy presentations in iBooks, it quickly becomes apparent that you must be using the iBooks’ author tool exclusively. This is the editor/creator tool that you use to build an iBook and has a learning curve. Even if you import pre-existing files, you still need to decide where they go, determine which interactive widgets to add, and customize the layout. An iBook doesn’t really help streamline the presentation process; it actually creates more work for you.
Waiting… Waiting… Waiting for Approval
Once you finally have an iBook that you are ready to publish, you have to submit the iBook to Apple for approval. In some cases, that waiting time could be a week… or it could be 75 days. Think about just how many companies and self-publishers are submitting content to a huge company like Apple. If your book is a 1 GB file, created in an outdated iBooks Author version, and contains any content that Apple dislikes (such as Seth Godin’s links to books on Amazon or complex trademark issues), be prepared for a rejection and a lot of wasted time. Your content ultimately needs the stamp of approval from Apple before you can even get it in front of your peers for internal approval. The ultimate headache? If you make edits to iBooks, you need to resubmit the content for approval.
iBooks are Not Enterprise Ready
Apple is a phenomenal company. Even so, Apple has barely fleshed out the iBooks idea, so the execution is just not there to support your enterprise in a practical manner.
We developed SalesKit to address all of the challenges that stem from mobilizing enterprise content, without the pitfalls you encounter with iBooks. SalesKit transforms your sales pitch, without compromising security, practicality, or your time.
Leave iBooks to the publishing world. It’s not a viable option for your business.
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