Apple: Dow Jones Says No iPads Allowed Until We Test Them

While Dow Jones, our little corner of News Corp. (NWS), might not be the biggest potential market for the Apple (AAPL) iPad, the way the device is being treated by the company’s IT department sheds some light on an issue that will have to be dealt with by every large company: whether to let the iPads access corporate networks.

Here’s the Dow Jones policy, from the company’s internal Web site:

Apple will make the iPad available on April 3rd, 2010. We understand the commercial importance of this product as it presents another excellent opportunity to distribute elite Dow Jones content to millions of existing and new customers. As we did with the iPhone, our intention is to rapidly assess the device in terms of compatibility with our network and vital applications. It is our responsibility to ensure that our use of this device introduces no vulnerability to our critical infrastructure and services.

We are committed to completing a full test and certification process within two weeks of receiving the first unit. To ensure the integrity of our environment, we will not permit any iPad access to the Dow Jones global enterprise network until our tests are complete. After our testing is complete we will promptly communicate our findings and next steps to you.