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Posted on 06/06/2006 4:40:51 PM PDT by Swordmaker
TECH BEAT - When it comes to IT investments by businesses large and small, it's all about the numbers.
After the dot-com boom went bust, many CEOs started to question ballooning IT expenses. In place of conversations about being on the leading edge of technology, companies started talking about cutting their IT costs.
But there are other numbers beyond the sticker price business executives need to think about, particularly when making decisions about the next upgrade cycle.
Known as total cost of ownership, such approach often leads companies to realize that higher-end computers offering more benefits than low-end machines because of increased worker productivity and longer lifespan.
Data theft, machine downtime, equipment repair, expensive scams and lost productivity are all things business leaders need to take into account when looking at computers and software.
According to IT security firm Sophos Inc., there were 114,000 known viruses for the Windows platform in 2005, with a 44 per cent increase in malicious software.
One in 44 e-mails in 2005 contained a virus.
That's reason to give any business pause.
While companies are spending billions on anti-virus, spyware and anti-spam software, the onslaught from viruses continues to evolve with reports of organized crime now branching out online through theft of corporate secrets, blackmail and other scams.
The companies at the forefront of the defence against these threats are not without their own vulnerabilities. Just last week came news at llast week came news at leading Norton Anti-virus from Symantec Inc., which has more than 200 million clients, contains a vulnerability that could hackers seize control of computers to steal sensitive data, delete files or implant malicious programs.
The poor, beleagured PC.
Then there's the Mac, which is virtually virus-free. Apple Computer popularized the graphical user interface and kicked off the personal computer revolution in the 1980s.
Then came Microsoft with Windows and Apple got pummeled. Businesses fled the Mac platform to Windows, gradually eroding Apple's market share to between two to three per cent of the world's computers. Windows, in all its different flavours, holds just over 90 per cent of the market.
While a few hackers have put out simple proof of concept viruses, there have been no widespread virus attacks on the Mac in the last five years.
Apple's Macs aren't invulnerable, but the threats they face are the IT equivalent of a mild cold compared to the plethora of digital Ebola viruses infecting Windows.
Some argue that the Mac is immune from viruses because of its relative obscurity. Others argue its underlying take on computer security makes its more robust than Windows.
Whatever the reason, it's time for business people to stop thinking about Macs as a tool for the "graphics people." It might just be time to move beyond total cost of ownership and to look at a new business term - competitive advantage.
The good news for businesses looking at ditching Windows for Mac OS X is Apple's latest generation of computers are competitively priced with similar offerings from other PC makers such as Dell or HP.
Since the launch of the sleek and ubiquitous iPod line of digital music players in 2001, to the most recent launch a new series of amusing ads highlighting the Macs' lack of viruses, Apple has been gunning for a comeback.
Apple's latest line of machines is based on the same Intel hardware found in other PCs, leading to reduced costs and improved performance. The machines also offer one new key feature - the ability to run Windows natively.
In March, Apple announced a new beta software program called Boot Camp that allowed users to install Windows XP alongside Mac OS X. This will enable users to continue to access Windows-only program while enjoying the security and features of Mac OS X. The only concern of course is that Macs running Windows are just as vulnerable to the same viruses that plague other PCs. The ability to boot between different operating systems is expected to be included in Apple's next revision of OS X due in 2007.
Businesses that depend on custom applications or on Windows-only applications aren't likely to decide that the benefits of a Macs security advantages outweigh all the other costs and considerations.
That being said, Macs can be integrated into existing PC networks with little effort, providing employees who don't rely on such applications with a secure, stable and stylish machine. Popular business applications such as Microsoft Office are available for the Mac and a variety of software providers have written programs geared for businesses such as point of sale terminal programs and accounting programs.
Then there are the productivity enhancing features in OS X itself, which in its latest version includes a lightening fast search engine called Spotlight which quickly searches through documents, e-mail, photos, and much more. Computers are a vital part of your operation whether you're running a 10 person shop or a 1,000 person enterprise. But like any other business tool, they should just work. Sadly, in many cases, they don't and cause businesses untold headaches.
But perhaps an Apple or two can keep the more than 100,000 headaches away - or at least down to a far more manageable level.
David Shipley is a business and technology reporter with the Telegraph-Journal, who just happens to own a Mac. He can be reached at shipley.david@telegraphjournal.com.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
I'd love it - but all of our vertical apps still have Windows clients. They are all rolling out web service versions, though, so give it another three years and just maybe... ;)
Why doesn't FR make a new sector, And call it "Mac" because chit-chat is becoming one large Apple commercial
Why don't you ignore it?
just wondering why people cant advertise their websites but apple gets free advertising all day long
Quite the revisionist history view of the world. Businesses never "fled" the Mac platform. Businesses "flocked" to the IBM PC platform because the alternative was a couple of long hairs making Apple][ computers in their garage.
The Mac didn't appear until 1984 (remember the fantastic '1984 Big Brother' commercials? Brilliant!) and by that time the IBM PC and other PC clones had dominated the business PC world.
The only inroads Macs made, and this is still very true today, was in desktop publishing, and video editing. And today, like 1984, Macs dominate those fields not because they're superior to PC Windoz machines, it's just tradition.
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
I'm curious how much Apple spends on product placement. If you just used tv and movies to decide you would think Apple Computers were the only computers in existence. Of course no other computer is as distictive so I guess it wouldn't be as successful for anyone else to product place in media.
Ironically, it is relatively well known that Apple does not pay for much of that product placement. Hollywood does it for free because Hollywood thinks it is a cool prop that projects a certain image that resonates with that crowd.
That's cool. I just got Entourage season 2 on DVD and they actually work the Apple store into two different episodes not to mention that everyone has them, and they have used iChat A/V on the show. I wonder if that is converting any fans of the show, because on IMDB there was a thread about what people have seen on the show that they went out and bought. Seems like that would be one of the most notable things to buy.
I actually use OSX a lot, but primarily because it is a slick UNIX friendly front-end to big Linux servers.
What kind of iPod are you using these days? My family now has five iPods. I have a 60GB video as does my oldest son. My younger son had a Nano and a Shuffle. I have a 40GB 4th generation iPod that I use for classical music only.
Its called XM Radio and a CD Player.
When I see a the title of a post that does not interest me I do not read it. Try that for a while and see if that makes you feel better. If that does not work why not make your own ping list of Microsoft or Linux related information?
We have sixteen Windows servers and ~200 Windows clients on our LAN. In the 7+ years I have worked here, we have had only two virus infections that went anywhere at all. One was on our MS Exchange server, which is managed by an incompentent contractor, so we couldn't have fixed it if we wanted to. The other was a Nimda outbreak that took all of three hours work with two admins to catch and eliminate, with no data loss.
Since that time, every machine on the network has an enterprise-level virus scanner running at all times, and we have not had a single infection.
If viruses and security are a problem on your Windows machines, you have hired an incompetent administrator.
Another reason is that they have Macs available... they use them.
We also have had our Windows machines virus free for the most part. We run Trend's Neat Suite, it is expensive but effective. We have on most days over 300 infected emails hit our Exchange Server. I have seen on high outbreak days numbers approaching 1,000. This is irritating, time consuming, and a constant concern. I am looking forward to the OSX Intel based servers coming out as we are switching our servers over to them at that point.
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