iOS devices were the most popular new devices activated using Good Technology&39's enterprise software, according to a study the company released today.

Apple has said many times that the iPhone and iPad are gaining popularity with enterprise-level businesses. We've heard most recently that the iPad is either being used or tested for use at "more than 80 percent" of Fortune 100 companies, according to Apple COO Tim Cook. Today, a company that makes enterprise software is providing additional evidence that corporate customers are warming to the iPad, with details on which industries are embracing it already.

Good Technology makes enterprise software for mobile devices (Good For Enterprise), and over the last year has been tracking which devices its clients put its software on. Using data gleaned from more than 2,000 clients, Good found that during the fourth quarter of 2010, more than 65 percent of all activations using its software were on iOS devices--which means iPhones and iPads. iPad activations grew from 14 percent of all new devices to 22 percent of all new devices during that same time period.

The most activated devices Good saw during the quarter were, in order, iPhone 4, iPad, iPhone 3GS, Motorola Droid X, and Motorola Droid 2. Overall, Android phones remained about a third of new devices activated during the quarter, roughly the same as the previous three months, according to the study. For the first time, there were no Windows Mobile or Symbian devices in the top 10 most activated new devices, Good found.

It should be noted that Windows Phone 7 is not included since Good doesn't support that platform yet, and all BlackBerry software is run off the BlackBerry Enterprise Server, so Good does not have access to data regarding activations of RIM's smart phone devices.

We also get some detail on where the iPad is being used. Good found that the industry its customers are most using the iPad in are financial services, followed by health care, legal/professional services, high tech, government/public sector, and wholesale/retail.

Apple obviously has a head start in tablets since the iPad has been available since April 2010, but in the coming year it should have some competition. There are several Android tablets expected to be released this year, as well as WebOS tablets from Hewlett-Packard, which is a heavyweight when it comes to enterprise customers. But the biggest challenge for tablet adoption in enterprise is likely to come from RIM, which, as previously mentioned, won't be included in Good's numbers. The PlayBook is expected to go on sale this year as a companion device to the BlackBerry, which has been long-entrenched in the corporate world.