A BlackBerry is usually a businessman's best friend, but a string of recent hirings shows that Apple is out to change that.  According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple has hired at least five employees from the enterprise team at RIM over the last 18 months, with the possibility that more have made the jump or are at least considering it.  One of the most notable defectors is Geoff Perfect, RIM's former Head of Strategic Sales, who worked with the company for five years before becoming Apple's Head of Enterprise iPhone Sales in May of 2009.

We've seen iOS gaining quite a bit of ground in the business sector, evidenced by a report from AT&T that 40 percent of iPhones sold end up in the enterprise.  The iPad has been doing well with businesses, too, and the fact that it now has multitasking, folders, and several other new features found in iOS 4.2 is only going to make that success grow even more.  It's tough to say whether or not Apple is explicitly going after RIM's employees, although it wouldn't be a terrible idea considering how popular the BlackBerry has been with the enterprise in the past.  Either way, iOS, along with Android and the DROID Pro, are gunning for businesses, and if I were RIM, I'd be sweating just a bit right now.

Via BGR, Wall Street Journal