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yihaa 1 ?

It's fortunate for most companies that this is happening (I work for HP so I doubt I'll see it here).
It's actually the exact opposite of the cause for the PC's dominance. I remember in the 80's the driving force for choosing the then technologically inferior PC over the Amiga, Atari ST, and Macintosh, was the fact that the PC is what the big businesses were using. The market's changed so much that this can occur, but realistically for most businesses it will take a demonstration of how time is saved by using a mac, to get past the fact that they don't really need a system with the bells and whistles of a mac.

May 22, 08 - 09:46 am Comment from: ElderNorm

While the author is right about businesses not wanting to change cause its work.... That is what makes growing businesses vs closing businesses.

Companies that do not want to change, do not want to continue in business.

period.
en

May 22, 08 - 09:48 am Comment from: Demon

Mac moving PCs out of small and medium sized Enterprises is already underway. I do consulting for a Software development Company (they only do Windows software). One Engineer was tired of Windows and needed a new laptop, he bought a Macbook Pro. Half the engineers have iPhones and now 5 of the engineers are swapping their Windows Laptops for Macbooks or Macbook Pros.
The IT guy and the CEO were a bit on the negative side to start with, but, with increased productivity and happy employees it kind of hard to be against it. The IT guy and CEO both have iPhones now and the CEO's new laptop (according to the It guy) will be a Macbook Air when it arrives in a few days.
With all the Macs that are springing up around this Windows (only) Software company you might think that a swift change or supported platform extension would take place. Well, not so fast at change, programmers even if they are working on a Mac are still sacred of coding for the Mac. Now that they have Macs they have all started learning XCode and Objective C. Will the company expand their support to MacOS X. I think in the end that their customers will force them into supporting the Mac.

May 22, 08 - 09:48 am Comment from: ndelc

"Big firms such as IBM have told their IT teams to figure out how to accommodate the upstart."

That doesn't sound like the IT department at anyplace I've ever worked. In my experience, telling the IT department you wanted to use anything that wasn't Microsoft simply got you a look that could kill.

May 22, 08 - 09:53 am Comment from: Ampar

"Apple CEO Steve Jobs arming customers . . ."

With weapons designed by P.A. Semi? Aha.

May 22, 08 - 09:56 am Comment from: TowerTone

Yes, let's remove the sh from the IT Department.....

May 22, 08 - 09:59 am Comment from: Jay-Z

This guy is blatantly wrong when he says Macs aren't interoperable and don't adhere to standards. MDN, how did you let that slide!?

May 22, 08 - 10:21 am Comment from: HolyMackerel

"Raise your hand if you think Apple's products are great because (a) they're really interoperable and (b) they strictly adhere to standards. I didn't think so."

Yeah right, like Office documents, MS Publisher, Exchange and Internet Explorer. MS maintains its monopoly by creating a proprietary format, locking it from developers/competitors then convincing journalists that it is the 'standard'.

Sorry, but that design is so 1980s. We're not going back to that world again.

May 22, 08 - 10:26 am Comment from: HMCIV

From the Article: Corporate customers only embrace new technology when they must.

Why are corporate customers embracing Mac & Linux now? One word: Panorama! Err... I mean... Vista!

May 22, 08 - 10:39 am Comment from: Demon

"An obsession with control has led to an obsession with "standards." All software is built from these cookbooks of code -- even the underpinnings of the Web -- because adherence to common principles preserves compatibility between software and systems, allowing data to be shared and business to get done.

Raise your hand if you think Apple's products are great because (a) they're really interoperable and (b) they strictly adhere to standards. I didn't think so."

I have to take objection to this in the writers analysis, as the Only "Standard" Microsoft is obsessed with is it's own. This not and never as a company for open standards. The internet is not based on a Microsoft standard, no matter how much MS wishes it was. Which brings up the interoperability issue, IE is not a standards compliant browser, Safari on the other hand is. MacOS X is based on standards, from Apache HTTPd, to the BSD stack to open SSL. The Mac OS was also communicating with mainframes and other macs on the Internet before Microsoft knew what the internet was.

Microsoft does even strictly follow it's own standards as Office doesn't even fully support it's OOXML standard, interestingly enough Apple's iWork does and OOXML documents created in MS Office are more likely to be displayed correctly in iWork then in MS Office.

So to the author @ the FOOL - I pity the fool for making a fool of himself.

Because Apple is strict standards compliant while MS makes up it's own standards. IT departments aren't standards obsesses they are Windows i.e. Microsoft obsesses, after all they have big money invested in Microsoft Certifications.

Solaris is strictly standards based why it's IT departments clamoring to deploy Solaris through the enterprise? Because the standard is an open standard and not MS closed make it up as they go standard. Embrace and extend is Microsoft's internal moto and what it means is they will embrace an open standard and then extend it to the point that it becomes a Microsoft proprietary standard.

I pity the Fool for letting Fools dribble foolish incorrect dreck.

May 22, 08 - 10:47 am Comment from: Spark

@Jay-Z

Yeah, that's a very old rap on Apple. Certainly not true anymore. On the other hand, MS still refuses to play nice with standards.

Q: How many Microsoft software engineers does it take to change a light bulb.
A: None. They just declare "Dark" the new standard.

MS succeeded in locking users and create monopoly not with Windows, as most people think, but with Visual Studio. Most people programming strictly for Windows ware and not from some common platform stands like Firefox or Safari use VS. VS creates new Windows software, and you need Windows to run the Windows-only s/w, and then you need VS to build on the Windows s/w, and so it goes on...

If people just stop buying and using PCs unless they absolutely must run VS, then they soon realize 90% of computer technology needs can be done w/o any MS s/w at all. Then the IT shift will begin.

May 22, 08 - 11:01 am Comment from: 84 Mac Guy

How sad if the IT boys drowned when the Apple tsunami washes over them.

Just last night I sent an email to nba.com because their video player only runs on Windows Media Player. I have Flip4Mac and it still won't work. It is probably the only website where I have problems consistently.

I told them they need to fire their IT department and get someone who knows what the hell they are doing. If they are doing as poorly as they are now what will happen when almost everyone is viewing the web from a mobile device? They are missing out on lot of potential revenues and frustrating their fans for no good reason.

The NBA: where lousy IT happens.

May 22, 08 - 11:22 am Comment from: Jubei

I hate to be so pessimistic about this enterprise push. I really believe Apple is a much better solution and safer than Windows. I say this simply because I've gone to battle on this so many times with companies. MS has a stranglehold in this market. Their monopoly established in the OS, allows them to further extend its stranglehold with software specifically tied in to the OS or given unfair advantages over the competition. It would take a bold and visionary type of CIO/IT management to move beyond MS. But the basic policies of most IT in companies is not to look into innovative initiatives. They mostly follow the standard or follow the established regime ( monopoly locked MS standard ) and follow what others have done.

Someone should tell Mr. Beyers that compatibility and conforming to open standards, along with cutting edge innovation, are the major reasons for the success of Apple's products. While casting Apple as some insurgent and disrupted company makes for catchy posting, it is true only as regards Apple's pursuit of innovation and excellence. Along with innovation and excellence, Apple makes the most compatible computers on the market. You need only examine what's in Mac OS X and OS X Server to discover all of the open standards and software that is in OS X. Indeed, OS X itself is based on standard BSD Unix and has full certification as conforming to the UNIX standard, which is why you can easily port any Unix or Linux application to OS X. And now, with Intel's chips inside, Macs and Xserve can run Windows, Linux, Unix, and other X86 operating systems. And Macs have all the standard ports.

So among the pillars of the Macs greateness--innovation, excellence, superior quality of construction and components, innovation and excellence in aesthetic and functional design of hardware and software, excellence in operational management, excellent strategic management, a great sense of taste, deciding that it is better to side with your customers than with big media, and vision regarding its products and the technology industry--you will also find compatibility and support for open standards.

Apple should surpass RIM for market share by the end of Apples first quarter of fy2010 ending January ???...I forget the date.

@Wilt,
I'm not sure what you are jabbering about. NBA.com video works fine for me. I am also using Flip4Mac, and Safari on a 4-yr old AluPB with 867Ghz and Leopard.

I could ask the same of Steve Jobs. As much as you want to claim that the Mac works fine on a Windows network, "That dog don't hunt!" I get so tired of asking my Microsoft certified IT guy for the IP address numbers for a printer or copier on the network when they just use plain names. Where's Bonjour? It definitely needs some more tweaking before our IT guys will accept us Macintosh upstarts, who they only consider to be cool-aide drinking fanatics.

The single biggest factor that should influence companies to switch to Mac is " total cost of ownership". Buy some Macs and cut your IT department down to near zero. Not to mention the costs of anti-virus software and other Windows malware problems.

Years ago companies bought IBM products based on the ld adage that " no one gets fired for buying IBM ", which implied that even if their products weren't the best, IBM was a safe play.

Buying Microsoft is NOT a safe play.

May 22, 08 - 01:39 pm Comment from: Me In LA

@ 84 Mac Guy:

Some of us "IT guys" ARE Mac users.
Just look at the latest of four Apple XSANs in our environment...
Completely stealthy in our takeover.
Completely putting the Wintel world to shame - one Mac/server at a time.

Count on it.

@KenC
You're luckier than I am. I cannot get the NBA web video to work at all. I watch videos on ESPN, SI, Fox and other sports related sites but NBA just ain't cutting it for me. I've read all their info, emailed them and no luck.

I would think the NBA would want to cater to Mac users since we buy 66% of computer priced $1000 or more. We are the high end users they should covet, who can actually afford to go to an NBA game.

I am glad your experience has been a good one; mine has sucked. I would buy NBA video because I am a big fan (GO LAKERS!) but my experience so far has been nothing but discouraging.

But Apple is DYING!!

ha ha fooled you...

May 22, 08 - 02:57 pm Comment from: Mr. Peabody

But in reality, if Apple wants the enterprise market then Apple needs to go after it. Reinforcing the home consumer base is an obvious first step, but I'm weary of being on the enterprise front line for Apple with absolutely no direct compensation. Apple needs to think through and begin developing an enterprise market place for itself - And now would be good.

May 22, 08 - 02:59 pm Comment from: Mr. Peabody

In addition: Apple needs to wedge itself into the IT education departments of all major and minor colleges, universities, and trade schools. In other words, stop cranking out Windows only IT pros by the hordes.

May 22, 08 - 03:54 pm Comment from: Jubei

@Mr. Peabody

Your absolutely right about fighting the battle for Apple with no compensation at all. I've spend countless hours, perhaps days, with reports after reports, articles after articles, testimonies after testimonies with IT. Double that when I come up against SOX with companies. People have no idea how hard it is to bat for Apple when it comes to that environment.

May 22, 08 - 05:01 pm Comment from: Zune Tang®

I showed this page to the IT guys where I work and when they were done laughing they said "Bring the MAC dorks on!"

All relevant data shows Microsoft-based solutions have the lowest introductory and administrative costs in the enterprise. We aren't seeing a paradigm shift here. The IT guys said no shop worth their salt would ever institute overpriced, proprietary MACs. Besides, they estimated that the productivity losses alone make it impossible to justify namby pamby MACs that can't cut the mustard. How do you view or forward the e-mail with the .WMV of the monkey drinking his own pee from the guy in marketing on a MAC? You can't.

Your potential. Our passion.™

May 22, 08 - 05:12 pm Comment from: Cubert

After having 6 months off work and using only my 2 Macs, it has been EXCRUCIATINGLY painful to go back to Winblows. My eyes hurt from the tiny ugly icons and my brain hurts from trying to get everything to work the way it's supposed to.

Windoze has to be the single greatest drain on productivity in the workforce.

May 22, 08 - 05:41 pm Comment from: Petey

Another way is for all the windows biased IT dinosaurs in these companies should be fired and younger more open minded IT people bought in to replace them who are actually on the pulse when it comes to new technologies and willing to implement better solutions.

But then again... we have more chance of hell freezing over, pigs flying and Steve Ballmer growing his hair back!

May 22, 08 - 05:59 pm Comment from: Ampar

" . . . stop cranking out Windows only IT pros by the hordes."

Because they seem to be able to crank themselves just fine.

I'm not trumpeting but from a response I made to an MDN article a few months back:

In my view, at its root Apple has a purpose that connects with the human spirit and its need for progress, innovation and excellence.

Based on this purpose is the offering: the complete widget - OS and hardware, seamlessly welded together with style and finesse.

That is all Apple have done - deliver to the consumer an offering that connects in a very basic yet profound manner.

Well, the consumer now wants to take his computing experience to work and will eventually prevail.

I have, over the last three months I have watched a good friend (who is in the IT industry) help his friend who had bought a new WinDOS pee-cee, equip that box to display TV programmes, then un-install, re-configure, down-grade from Vista to XP, then back up than move it to the right, and a shake it to the left and, tear his hair out, do the hokey-cokey...

I call that entire non-Mac side of the personal computing world the world of Zeros & Heros.

The Zeros in Redmond and their associated band of add-on/peripheral hardware and software vendors that comprise their eco-system inflict a big problem on their customer. The customer then has to go in search of a local Hero normally in the form of a geeky kid though also many more mature IT industry veterans are also pulled into this role, to bail them out.

My friend, has heroically spent more than 90urs in his endeavour and you got to say it, he is enjoying the challenge of solving the problem while cursing the Zeros in Redmond... Problem solving and the joy of even a minor success (oh! I had to re-write the instructions that came with the digitalTV card in English because the Asian/English was so misleading!!!) is driving the Hero while he battles his way towards a solution.

May 22, 08 - 09:17 pm Comment from: Macintosh

Good note MDN.

I've used that many times, and even posted it here in past articles... Apple uses Macs and iPhones. $30+ billion a year or so in sales. Most companies that think Macs are "consumer devices" as I've heard them called before, don't even come close to the size of Apple. And probably don't run anywhere near as smoothly.

May 23, 08 - 03:39 am Comment from: Petey

Here's the main reason why Apple wont make great inroads in corporates.

Having worked for anumber of years within these types of businesses I can say that the way these companies choose hardware is by a tendering process.

Meaning - for example, say a enterprise is looking for 2,000 new desktop pcs the first thing they will do is create a specification of the hardware and software that would be the standard build for all these new pcs.

They would then send these specs to their business account managers to Dell, Sony, Toshiba etc.

The computer makers would then provide a price for the machines (leased) and a service level agreement cost.

Now the real sting in the tail for Apple is that Apple ONLY make Apple hardware and no other manufacturer.

This is perceived as 'proprietary' to enterprises as there is not more than one manufacturer of Apple based hardware.

Therefore Apple will very rarely be considered for enterprises regardless of how amazing their products are.

Sad, but that's the real world we live in!

May 23, 08 - 09:40 am Comment from: MobileAdmin

I think MDN likes to have at least one "We're going to take over the Enterprise" post a week.

While the Iphone is likely going to get some enterprise traction, I don't see any movement for Mac pc / laptops.

You don't need a mac to support the iphone, just itunes which is available for windows.

We just updated our internal policy (not by ISO but the law and complaince areas) that we will not support personal bought mobile devices. Like any other fortune 100 company there will be excutive "exceptions" but there is nothing driving adoption of iphone or Mac here.

Linking this to the new rumour about tablets, Apple should create an appealing device (like as appealing as an iPhone is today) with high 'utility' value for the white collar masses in the world of business.

A Newton on 21st Century steroids.

IT departments of the future will not have estates of PCs in their businesses as workers will arrive at work with their own computing devices that simply recognise and set their context based on whether the user is at home near a domestic Airport signal or in the office near a corporate network (much like how we all turn up in our own cars that fit our own requirements...).

A friend of mine already takes his personal laptop (with wireless broadband) to work in addition to having a PC provided by his employer simply to deal with his personal life as it develops realtime using his personal machine to:
• check personal emails
• trade shares
• on-line banking etc
• and track other personal/social events

All of which he obviously does not want his employer to have access to but wants to do during coffee and meal breaks.

This is how it will happen...

I think what Apple needs to break into the "enterprise" is a mid-range, mid-price tower that's not bundled with video. Companies will swap out computers more often than monitors, but Apple only offers iMacs (not that expandable, video goes with CPU) and Mac Pros (more power and more expense than the average office worker needs). Come out with a "Mac", not a "Mac Pro" just Core 2 Duo, expandable bays, decent price.