Posted on 10/16/2015 12:08:33 AM PDT by Swordmaker
IBM's internal deployment of Mac hardware has been a resounding success, the company announced this week, with rapid adoption and very little need for employee technical support.
IBM took part in this week's JAMF Nation User Conference in Minneapolis, where the company explained how it began to integrate Apple's Mac platform into the traditionally Windows-centric organization.
Just 5% of Mac equipped employees call IBM's internal help desk for assistance, versus 40% of PC users.
Speaking to more than a thousand Apple IT administrators was Fletcher Previn, vice president of Workplace-as-a-Service at IBM. Big Blue began offering employees the ability to use a Mac at work starting on June 1, and adoption has been a tremendous success.
Previn revealed that IBM is now deploying 1,900 Macs per week, and there are currently 130,000 iOS and Mac devices at use within the company. All of these devices are supported by just 24 help desk staff members.
Further, Previn revealed that just 5 percent of Mac users call IBM's internal help desk for assistance, compared to 40 percent of PC users.
Previn said these statistics show how simple it is for IBM staff to use the Mac, and how good of a job the team has done to make for a seamless experience in setting up a new Mac in the workplace.
IBM's deployment allows for employees to receive a shrink-wrapped, brand new Mac and quickly and easily set it up on their own. Using Apple's Device Enrollment Program and JAMF Software's Casper Suite, users set up and install IT-approved apps, software and configurations.
JAMF Software's Self Service allows IBM and its employees a simple method for installing licensed software. In an example given by Previn, the employee simply needs to click install for Microsoft Office, and IT will handle the licensing on the backend without exposing any of it to the user.
Finally, regarding the higher upfront cost of buying a Mac, Previn said that IBM's adoption of Apple hardware is actually a financial benefit to the company in the long run.
Macs require less management and setup effort than PCs, he said, saving IT personnel valuable time. And fewer employees are needed to support Macs than traditional PCs, he said.
"Every Mac that we buy is making and saving IBM money," Previn said.
IBM officials said in July that they plan to deploy some 50,000 MacBooks to employees by the end of 2015. Final adoption numbers at the company are expected to be between 150,000 and 200,000 units.
Apple and IBM surprised the tech world last year by announcing a partnership in enterprise solutions dubbed "IBM MobileFirst for iOS," an initiative incorporating custom software and analytics services with iOS hardware. That proved to be just the start of a growing partnership between the two former rivals, leading to this year's deployment of Macs within the IBM ranks.
The companies also revealed in June their work on an experimental educational product called the Student Achievement App, which looks to provide teachers with real-time student data analytics. A prototype version of the service is slated for completion soon, with pilot programs scheduled to roll out at four schools in 2016.
And in August, IBM announced a program designed to help large enterprises incorporate Macs within their existing IT infrastructures. IBM's MobileFirst Managed Mobility Services utilize the company's own experiences from its Mac@IBM program.
Bwahahahaha
Let’s have another ad from Redmond telling how wonderful they are. /s
Ping to dayglored for possible ping to his list.
If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.
Mac users are the vegans of the computer world.
The fewer the options, the fewer the problems. This is the “walled garden” advantage.
40% of users at tech giant IBM don’t know how a PC works? Hard to believe.
Although I write this from my old iPad, I find Apple products extremely user unfriendly. I would not use one, if I had a choice to get one at work.
Also, I wonder how IBM is handling the security issues with Macs? Where I work, people are not allowed to use Macs at all, for the security issues.
Also, I wonder that only 40% of users call the help desk? I call them all the time.
Most businesses use pc’s and always will.
Nice to know that Apple fans don’t know how % works either.
Fewer Mac users = smaller number of everything
Also those PCs are used for more things. Not just the graphic design department or the receptionist desk.
I know why, because the PCs are locked down to the point where you can’t even use a USB Drive at some companies.
Just wait till they introduce all the same controls on the Apple Platforms, their need for the help desk will sky rocket.
Wow. Who’d have thought the brand new computers would have fewer problems than the old ones.
Right up until the option limits become the problem.
The standard answer to every apple inquiry is:
“uh, no, you can’t do that.”
I’m really shocked with this. With IBM’s support of Linux, one would think that all their machines would be running SUSE.
Having been a multi decade PC user from days of DOS and before Windows GUI, I’ve always said owning and keeping a PC running was a second career. The only Apple product I’ve owned was an Apple IIe. I have heard the many issues with drivers and conflicts and incompatibilities are not as prevalent on closed Apple products.
Exactly. Apple severely limits its users options. The ones it allows can be operated quite well. There is no such limit on PCs. I'll bet there is little difference on the rate of support between the two if you look at only the kind of things that are allowed by Apple.
Projects like this typically go for the "low hanging fruit" first. In this case, that would be the users that are running applications they know are easily portable to and well within the limits of the new platform. It generates impressive results early in the project that can be used to create an implied narrative that these same results can be expected to scale all the way through the rest of the project. The reality frequently turns out to be quite different.
Now as to WHY they're easier, clearly we have some differing opinions here already... LOL!
I'm going to get some popcorn...
Thanks to Swordmaker for the ping!!
We note that it only took 4 posts before the first insult to Mac users.
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