Some IT Departments are exasperated by the iPhone, according to the Wall Street Journal on Monday. [Subscription may be required.] They may hate the iPhone because they can’t control it the way they want, but they are are also powerless to stop employees from using it.

Many companies have been annoyed with the iPhone to date, claiming that they can’t force their employees to protect sensitive data on their iPhones with passwords. In addition, so far, they haven’t been able to remote wipe the iPhone if it’s stolen. [Apple has announced that will be fixed.] However, it’s becoming a losing battle, and as Apple has sought to remedy the perceived defects for business, some technology experts are suggesting that businesses need to change their adoption processes for technology.

The problem has been that mobile phone makers have been pitching business technologies that CTOs and IT managers love. On the other hand, they failed to pay attention to the technologies that business people actually use. As a result, with a device that can fit in the pocket, IT departments haven’t been able to exercise the control they historically have with PCs.

"It’s clear to us that power is shifting to the users" and away from IT departments, said Mike de la Cruz, a V.P. with SAP AG. "So we’ve changed our strategy to focus on the users."

While some business executives remain unconvinced, the recent Apple initiatives for business with iPhone 2.0, AT&T’s introduction of business accounts in January and the blessing of Gartner have made it almost impossible to shut the iPhone out of the enterprise. The momentum of the iPhone is such that it’s simply easier to change policies so that employees can get their work done.