Apple hardware gains popularity in the enterprise

Betanews ^ | December 9, 2015 | By Ian Barker

[arl295]

Oh I see, the desktop is dead, unless that desktop is running a Mac Operating system, then it is the coolest shiniest thing ever and everyone must buy one right?

How many on the road sales guys have desktops? Why?

I have a feeling they would have smartphones, Apple or otherwise....

Think about efficiency, not your fanboism.

[Swordmaker]

So everyone needs a 27” Display with a second 24” display next to it?

Do on the road sales teams need this as well?

Sounds too bulky to carry around

Ah, another one of your strawman arguments, I see. No, a MacBook weighing just two pounds would most likely be more than adequate for the job, if an under one pound iPad wouldn't do it VPNed back to a full desktop computer, with BOTH displays and having complete control of it. However the view might be a bit tiny. . . so then you might want the iPad Pro with its 12.9 inch 2732 x 2048 pixel screen. Or, alternately, you can hook any of them up to a miniature video projector and display them on the wall at whatever size you need to show your clients. They are all capable of doing that. . . in either HD or even 4K.

However, most sales professionals are opting for the iPads.

You don't pay much attention to what people answer to you, do you? All of this has been asked and answered. . . and essentially covered in the article and other sources on the movement of Apple products into business, if you bothered to read them.

[arl295]

Again, the endpoints don’t matter, do you even know what I mean by that?

An endpoint can be a IP telephone, smartphone, desktop computer, tablet, terminal, laptop, etc

In any corporate environment all the real work is done in the datacenter, which by the way is usually either Dell or HP servers, running Windows Server, Linux, VM Ware, etc.

[The KG9 Kid]

No no, thanks though Swordmaker. I’m not insulted by him and honestly didn’t intend to insult him either.

I run a Microsoft shop, actually. I’m just saying that it’s obvious as hell Microsoft is just making it up as they go along and hoping something sticks, and that’s true all across the company. I don’t like a lot of what I’m seeing right now and I don’t think end users do either whether its Microsoft’s consumer phones, tablets, productivity software, dev tools (especially the licensing part), or back office server OSes. The market don’t lie.

In contrast, every Apple Store is standing room only from the moment they open in the morning. Dudes, I’m not making this shit up. Go look.

Now, Win10 is pretty good, I guess. I use it. I mean, it’s not as if the PC user base is ever going to stampede over to putting Linux on their new Dell/HP laptops. That’s just a nerdy futile gesture guaranteed to get you 3.75 hours of battery life if you’re lucky. Every back office Linux dork I know has a MacBook Pro regardless of Linus Torvald’s opinion on OSX.

[arl295]

Again, fanbois deciding what is best for someone, but have no idea what they do. You are a sales guy, you tell the old lady that she needs a $1200 iMac to get onto Facebook. You have the entire catalog memorized and you rehearse the sales pitches perfectly, good for you. But unfortunately, it all you know...

Why do they need desktops? Why do they even need offices to house those bulky, outdated desktops?

Business is about efficiency, not buying every Apple computing product on the planet.

You are still thinking in the old 1950’s office with Apple Products instead of IBM Typewriters..

[PA Engineer]

Your sign up date is a bit recent. Did you have an older screen name here? You sound familiar.

[The KG9 Kid]

"...Umm, the desktop is dead, why keep supporting it when a smartphone or tablet can do it easier and more efficient?"

We're not quite there yet. Maybe another ten years.

[arl295]

I have never seen those ratios in the real world. I don’t believe 70 to 1 nor the 5300 to 1 ratio they seem “fake” to me, like a CNN poll

[Swordmaker]

Oh I see, the desktop is dead, unless that desktop is running a Mac Operating system, then it is the coolest shiniest thing ever and everyone must buy one right?

Strawman, Strawman, where for art thou, Oh Strawman.

Did you see me say the desktop was dead???? No, you did not. But you put those words in my post. . . to try and claim I said them. I did not. There is a place for the desktop power machine and there's a place for the laptop, and there's a place for the tablet and one for the miniature tablet computer with a phone built in to it.

Yet, here you are, arguing something I never said. . . raising rows on rows of strawmen because you have no argument for the real issues being brought up by this article and the survey. . . that Macs are being bought and are replacing the Windows PCs because they are more efficient and easier to use than what they are replacing. THAT I did say, arl.

Road guys are quite happy with using the lightest weight, easiest to carry sales tools they can get away with carrying. Trust me, I know, I've done that job in my life.

Smartphones are not good sales tools for demonstrating or showing products to prospective clients, arl. They may be excellent for entering orders and looking up company data, but not for showing the client what he may be purchasing. Perhaps a Phablet is minimally useful for that purpose, but larger is better here. . . until you get into the area where the interface gets in the way such as a keyboard between you and your client.

I have been addressing efficiency. I specifically said as much. You seem to be ignoring that.

Oh, by the way, I have yet to address your claim that Apple makes "iToys." My main Mac is currently running NINE operating systems. First of all, it is running UNIX, then OS X.10.11 El Capitan, then under Virtual Machines, I run Windows XP, 7, 8.1 and Windows 10, and two versions of Linux plus Apple iOS. I have run all NINE OSes simultaneously, each of them in a separate Window under OS X. I have a full UNIX terminal available to me at a keystroke. This is not an "iToy" but a very powerful workstation. . . that runs far more software than your Windows computer can hope to. In addition to those operating systems I have virtual machines available for Windows NT, 95, MS-DOS, Amiga OS, ATARI, and even Commodore 64/128. I also have a version of the old Apple MacOS 9.2 available. My Intel Mac can run all of those in virtual machines. . . oh, I forgot, Windows X-Box.

Here's a photo of the NASA engineers who designed and controlled the Curiosity Mars Lander on the day it landed on Mars. . . look at the laptop computers they are using. Do you think they would select Apple "iToys" or full fledged, powerful computers?

Curiosity Mars Landing Control Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratories

By the way, arl, one more insult added to your count.

[Swordmaker]

I have never seen those ratios in the real world. I don’t believe 70 to 1 nor the 5300 to 1 ratio they seem "fake" to me, like a CNN poll

The 5300 to 1 is, as you said, not correct.

It is actually, according to the authoritative source, 5,375 to 1. I rounded downward instead of upwards as one would normally do.

It's a quote from Fletcher Previn, IBM VP of Workplace-as-a-Service and the man in charge of deploying the new machines, who stated it when IBM had 130,000 Apple devices deployed. I stand by it. You can pound the table all you like but it is factual. It was cited in "The Apple guys at IBM are smiling. Here's why." by by Philip Elmer-DeWitt -- Fortune Magazine -- October 16, 2015.

Previn also stated in his speech that:

• New Macs are currently being deployed at IBM at the rate of 1,900 per week.
• The machines are supported by a total of 24 help desk staff members, which works out to one for every 5,375 employees. (Gartner recommends one support desk person for every 70 users.)
• Only 5% of Mac users at IBM require help desk support, compared with 40% of Windows PC users.
• 98.7% of the Mac queries are resolved on the first call.

He went on to say "Every Mac that we buy is making and saving IBM money."

As to the 70 Windows users to one Windows IT tech support guy. . . some businesses are actually running with 20-25 to one. Sad, but true.

[Swordmaker]

Your sign up date is a bit recent. Did you have an older screen name here? You sound familiar.

He does, doesn't he. I was having Deja Vu all over again, all over the place.

[Swordmaker]

Again, fanboys deciding what is best for someone, but have no idea what they do. You are a sales guy, you tell the old lady that she needs a $1200 iMac to get onto Facebook. You have the entire catalog memorized and you rehearse the sales pitches perfectly, good for you. But unfortunately, it all you know...

it's pretty obvious you've never owned a Mac or an Apple product. I will tell you that that little old lady would be far better off in the long run with a reliable Mac than any product running Windows. She will have far fewer hassles and fewer problems and in the long run a far lower total cost of ownership. . . and the Mac will outlast the Windows machine by a long time.

[Swordmaker]

You are still thinking in the old 1950’s office with Apple Products instead of IBM Typewriters..

More strawmen marching row on row down the road. Don't you have any other approaches, arl?

I repeat. I have been talking about efficiency. So is IBM.

"Every Mac that we buy is making and saving IBM money," Previn said. That IS efficiency at work, arl. WAKE UP and smell the coffee!

Don't you pay attention? Why should they keep on doing the same inefficient thing over and over again that COSTS THEM MONEY????

Three more personal insults added to your count. You are really toting them up.

[wideminded]

Here's another definition: a huge business.

That's what I was thinking: Why don't they just call it a 'big company'? And it's never "an enterprise" or "an enterprise level business"; for some reason it's always "the enterprise", which sounds like a marketing term (or a ship).

[Swordmaker]

That's what I was thinking: Why don't they just call it a 'big company'? And it's never "an enterprise" or "an enterprise level business"; for some reason it's always "the enterprise", which sounds like a marketing term (or a ship).

Because by definition "The Enterprise" refers to ALL huge companies, not just one. As I said it differentiates a Business sector, or category of businesses. A big business can be one that employs anywhere from 5000 employees to 50,000 employees but still not qualify to be said to be a member of "The Enterprise" class businesses because it doesn't meet those other criteria I listed above. A business that employs from 500 to 5000 employees economically is defined as a small business, contrary from what you might think. It is a definition, a phrase, that specifies a category of businesses. . . It is inclusive of all of them.

I've seen one attempt to define it by the percentage of employees involved in management of the companies. . . i.e. the bureaucracies required to manage an Enterprise level of business. There is a structural change that occurs when a business reaches "The Enterprise" level from mere "Big" or "large" or even "huge" businesses. That attempt failed. . . because some Enterprise level businesses SHRANK their bureaucracies when they grew, while others ballooned their bureaucracies. It was more a matter of management style which grew and which shrank. Nope, that wasn't the answer.

[markomalley]

Rather than propaganda, let's look at some facts:

Seems like Windoze maintains its stranglehold (sadly) in the Desktop market. But Android appears to have overtaken IOS in the mobile marketplace in the past couple of years.

Or we have this view (please add the lines for the various Windoze versions):

Fact of the matter is that, despite the JAMF reporting, Apple is still a niche market for the desktop and is losing market share in mobile. I say that with no joy as I am a Linux aficionado, not a Windoze fan. (and as far as I am concerned, any POSIX system is superior to any M$ NT system out there)

[ReignOfError]

In the corporate environment, the end point doesn’t matter, whether it is a Mac, Dell Desktop, HP Workstation, iPad, Android Smartphone, it has no value. It is just a tool, like a drill or wrench, it does what it needs to do. If it breaks, you fix or replace it.

Great analogy. I mean, what carpenter or plumber or contractor doesn't describe his tools as having "no value"? I'm sure they'd all tell you that the cheapest POS is just fine, and if it breaks during a job that doesn't pose a problem at all.

[Swordmaker]

Your mobile market share chart is going to more and more meaningless, Mark. It works by measuring ad hits for Advertising that uses NetMarketShare counting software imbedded in the ads on webpages. If you’ll notice the sudden drop in iOS trend line beginning in October 2015 right when Apple started selling large numbers of its new Flagship iPhone 6S and 6S plus, but that makes no sense. However it also coincides with the release of iOS 9, which for the first time enabled AD BLOCKERS on iOS devices which block all ads in Safari and other browsers on iPhones, iPads, etc, which include Ads with NetMarketShare’s counting software. Reports are that upwards of 50% of iOS users downloaded and installed some version of Ad Blocking app.

Since this chart is a percentage chart, the lack of hits being counted for iOS due to the ad blockers will automatically translate as an increase in percentage of illusory hits in the major alternative: Android. In other words, there is no uptick in market share in Android shown on this chart, only a sudden drop in ads being counted on iOS devices, making it seem that there are fewer iOS devices on the Internet when that is not the case.

[markomalley]

Your mobile market share chart is going to more and more meaningless, Mark.

Sigh. There's always something, isn't there? Always some way where Apple-provided data is objective and anything else is corrupt.

How about this:

IDC:

[markomalley]

Oh, and by the way, I have nothing against Apple products or the OS. I think the products, all in all, are very high quality, innovative, and very usable...and the OS is, as far as OS's go, very stable. (Don't care for the closed ecosystem and the philosophy behind it, but that's a different issue altogether)

But what ticks me off is:

• The marketing:
  
  
  
  I don't care for smugness in advertising.
  
  
• The smugness and cult-like following of so many Mac users. I would rather use Windoze (and remember, I'm a Linux person), for all its faults, rather than be even remotely associated with that cult.

It's a pity, really. If it wasn't for that, I would probably buy an Airbook -- it's a very good product, really...but I'll be d@mned if I will ever give a company that promotes those attitudes a dime of my money. I'd rather be forced to drink Starbucks every day for the rest of my life.