Apple is finally making serious inroads in the enterprise, and barriers are collapsing, according to Vin DiAmico in his column at the IndUS Business Journal on Friday. Meanwhile, Vista is a disaster.
In an exceptionally well balanced and thought out assessment of the situation, Mr. DiAmico wrote a prescription for a corporation that wants to test the waters with Appleis enterprise offerings.
The key points in the process are:
- Recognizing the standards compliance of Macs built on UNIX.
- Being aware of Appleis Xserve and Xsan storage area network.
- The Macis ability to integrate into an Active Directory network.
- Assessing the real TCO, not apparent up front pricing where Apple typically focuses on high performance and valued added configurations.
- The ability of Macs to run Windows and Windows software natively or in virtualization.
Some barriers remain, however. Support for legacy applications, reliance on a single source, and the effort to introduce a second platform pose ongoing challenges. [A positive, left unmentioned, was that Apple now has GSA contracts.]
Mr. DiAmico pointed out something that every business needs to know: Inviting an Apple account executive and his support engineer to visit and brief can lead to a better understanding of the issues involved and Apple solutions that may not have been recognized. [Apple also has an award winning executive briefing program in Cupertino, Calif. that is much more comprehensive -- for those willing to visit Appleis HQ.]
The author, the president of Damicon LLC, covered all the bases in a level headed manner for those who are considering the benefits of Macs in their organization.
"As Apple grows its consumer business, there will be increasing pressure on corporations to adopt the Mac. Some of this pressure will come from recent college graduates, many of whom are Mac users. They will want to continue using Macs when entering the workforce.
"Macs are generally more stable and virus-resistant than Windows. They are easier to use and built on open standards. Maybe it is time to test the barriers to Mac adoption in your company," Mr. DiAmico advised.