As part of his goal to sell 10 million iPhones in 2008, Apple CEO Steve Jobs recently announced a reworking of the popular consumer product to make it compatible with business email programs. This is being done by the introduction of a software development kit that allows users to write additional programs — an essential element if the device is to be integrated into corporate IT departments.

From Bloomberg News:

Starting in June, Apple will push corporate e-mails to the phone, support Microsoft Corp.’s Exchange message system and offer new security functions. Apple also released software that lets outsiders write applications for the phone, and funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers for iPhone-based startups.

The intention is to entice corporations to provide their work force with iPhones (as opposed to the BlackBerry, which is the current corporate phone of choice). This had not been a realistic goal prior to last week’s introduction of the software development kit, which is intended to resolve compatibility issues.

And if those issues will indeed be resolved by the kit, will corporations then start buying up iPhones for their employees to use? Opinions are mixed, with many commentators citing Apple’s historic refusal to reveal basic information to outsiders as a huge roadblock in the company’s quest to win over corporate America’s various IT departments.

Writes the InternetNews.com’s Andy Patrizio:

A developer of enterprise mobility software has expressed doubts that Apple’s iPhone can cut it in the enterprise due to a number of issues, all of which Apple can change, but in doing so are anathema to how the company operates.

Ahmed Datoo, vice president of marketing of Zenprise, a developer of software for enterprise BlackBerry users, said he would welcome the opportunity to support the iPhone in the enterprise but has his doubts it will make much headway.

“The question that needs to be asked is, is the 2.0 software going to be good enough to take on RIM at the enterprise level?” he told InternetNews.com. “It doesn’t look it. Is it good enough to get at the small and medium-sized business market? Probably. They have different requirements.”

Reservations aside, there’s no doubt that Mr. Jobs will dive into this new arena of competition with his usual zeal — he’s already begun waging war against BlackBerry. Again, from Bloomberg:

At an event at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California, to show off the features, Jobs took a jab at Research In Motion by chiding the Canadian company’s security.

All BlackBerry e-mails in North America go through Research In Motion computers in its Network Operations Center in Waterloo, Ontario. A failure in one system a few weeks ago caused an outage across the continent.

“Every e-mail message that’s sent to a RIM device or from a RIM device goes through a NOC up in Canada,” Jobs, 53, said. “That provides a single point of failure but also provides a very interesting security situation.”