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You are here: MacNN Forums > News > Tech News > Study: Macs invading enterprise, seen as 'more reliable' by IT pros

Study: Macs invading enterprise, seen as 'more reliable' by IT pros
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NewsPoster
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Mar 25, 2014, 08:08 PM
 
Another survey of Macs in the workplace has both reinforced older studies as well as added surprising news about the growing acceptance of Macs in the workplace -- long thought to be the unassailable domain of Windows PCs. Virtualization software maker Parallels has polled more than 200 IT chiefs in its latest study, and found that nearly half -- 45 percent -- of the companies surveyed now offer their employees the option of using a Mac at work, and find the platform "more reliable" for both Mac and Windows application use.



It should be noted that the survey, carried out by Redshift Research, invited only companies that predominately used Windows, but were either considering letting employees use Macs as desired or already offered the option. Some 77 percent of the companies polled said that Macs are more reliable than Windows machines, with 65 percent saying they are easier to support and that offering Macs would likely help attract employees.

This portion of the study reinforced findings from early "Macs in the workplace" studies, which have generally found higher return on investment (ROI), lower "total cost of ownership" (TCO), greater reliability and more productivity from workers using them. While the majority of companies agreed that Macs are more reliable and easier to support, 70 percent of the companies that do not yet offer Macs in their workplaces say that the factors holding them back are a lack of expertise in supporting the platform, and the mistaken perception that Macs can't run Windows applications (likely the motivating factor behind Parallels' commissioning of the study).

Again among those businesses polled that don't offer Macs, about half (53 percent) also believed there was a lack of enterprise-level management tools for the platform (again, in most cases a misconception). However, among the businesses that aren't yet incorporating Macs, a surprising 95 percent of them said they would consider doing so if they were sure of a single central management system that could handle the company's Macs and PCs equally. The high rate of open-mindedness on the subject may give Apple (and virtualization and enterprise solution companies like Parallels) some motivation to educate enterprise buyers on existing management options, though there are clearly years of myth and misconception to get past in doing so.

"This survey reinforces what we already knew: Macs are coming into the enterprise but often are supported only reluctantly and not managed efficiently," said Parallels President Jack Zubarev, in a statement. Parallels has begun focusing on offering single-point management solutions for mixed Mac and PC networks, and Zubarev mentioned both the Enterprise Edition of Parallels Desktop for Mac and the company's Mac management plug-in for Microsoft SCCM (System Center Configuration Manager) as examples of ways companies could easily overcome any perceived barriers to Mac integration.

Since Tim Cook's ascension to CEO of Apple, the company has focused on making management tools for Mac and iOS devices inexpensive while gradually adding additional features and compatibility with other systems. Analyst have predicted that by next year, Apple products could account for 11 percent of global enterprise IT share, a "halo effect" brought on by increased use of iOS devices in the workplace, itself thanks to an IT reform movement that began with "Bring Your Own Device" policies -- where IT departments discovered that many employees preferred Macs and iOS devices, and could use them more productively.

Apple too has been beefing up the remote management and policy enforcement capabilities of its own tools, though largely aimed at OS X and iOS device management while increasing support for standards such as Exchange servers, SMC network compatibility and Active Directory. Among the recent changes is a new device enrollment program and revamped Profile Manager in OS X Mavericks Server, improvements in Apple Remote Desktop, improvements in iOS deployment tool Configurator and enterprise-friendly changes to volume hardware and software purchasing systems.
( Last edited by NewsPoster; Mar 25, 2014 at 08:39 PM. )
     
slboett
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Mar 25, 2014, 08:13 PM
 
To this I say: Duh.
     
coffeetime
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Mar 25, 2014, 10:20 PM
 
It took how many years for them to realize this? Well, this is because iDevices work well as baits to get public to accept Macs (granted: people living in years accepting virus nesting in their PC eating away their precious files). It will take Microsoft several more concert tickets just get someone step inside their store to buy an awesome Microsoft mouse.
     
besson3c
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Mar 25, 2014, 10:53 PM
 
I find these kind of studies, when presented this way, pointless and misleading.

What software do these businesses depend on? Often, the choice of platform is pretty clear depending on how you answer this question. If no special software is depended on and the computers just need basic internet access, these "studies" need to indicate this so that we have some sort of context.

The purpose of a platform and operating system is to allow users to run applications and be productive using them, that is it. It's about the apps, stupid.
     
Charles Martin
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Mar 26, 2014, 01:49 AM
 
That's precisely the point of the study, besson3c. Most businesses, I would dare say, run off-the-shelf Windows software (primarily Office, QuickBooks, et al). Guess what -- you can now do that on Macs. This is a smaller-scale version of what happened when IT departments brought in BYOD policies -- employees overwhelmingly chose iOS devices, and the IT people had to adapt. Slowly (so slowly), enterprises are realising that Macs are reliable, don't need to be replaced so often, don't get viruses and are more resistant to malware, and workers like using them more. Plus, they do Windows as well (or, in most cases, WAY BETTER) than the cheapo PC boxen they'd been buying. Yes, upfront costs for PCs is still cheaper for a basic PC -- but any business worth its salt looks at TCO and ROI and productivity and uptime. When you look at that, Macs look a lot better than they used to.
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besson3c
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Mar 26, 2014, 02:56 AM
 
Originally Posted by chas_m View Post
That's precisely the point of the study, besson3c. Most businesses, I would dare say, run off-the-shelf Windows software (primarily Office, QuickBooks, et al). Guess what -- you can now do that on Macs. This is a smaller-scale version of what happened when IT departments brought in BYOD policies -- employees overwhelmingly chose iOS devices, and the IT people had to adapt. Slowly (so slowly), enterprises are realising that Macs are reliable, don't need to be replaced so often, don't get viruses and are more resistant to malware, and workers like using them more. Plus, they do Windows as well (or, in most cases, WAY BETTER) than the cheapo PC boxen they'd been buying. Yes, upfront costs for PCs is still cheaper for a basic PC -- but any business worth its salt looks at TCO and ROI and productivity and uptime. When you look at that, Macs look a lot better than they used to.

I still think this is the wrong way of looking at this.

I think the most pertinent question is "what system will allow me to run Office or Quickbooks better and allow me to be the most productive"? It is possible for the slickest and most sophisticated platform in the world to have a crappy version of an app that is vital to a business (whether it is Office, Quickbooks, or anything else), in which case I sure wouldn't recommend that platform.

Therefore, whether Macs are reliable is a secondary concern to whether the app in question on the Mac is any good.
     
besson3c
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Mar 26, 2014, 02:58 AM
 
My comments are directed to the survey itself, not the article/story posted here.
     
besson3c
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Mar 26, 2014, 03:04 AM
 
Besides, it's been a while since I used Quickbooks Enterprise, but when I did the server was Windows only (the database component also worked in Linux), and therefore connections to it were via Terminal Services/RemoteApp, or whatever it is called now, and the Windows implementation is much slicker in being able to run the app in a rootless window over RDP, much like X11/SSH forwarding, as opposed to having to work with an RDP client on the Mac and having to interact with a Windows desktop.

I would be surprised if Quickbooks and Office were in exact feature parity with their Windows counterparts anyway.
     
coffeetime
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Mar 26, 2014, 08:15 AM
 
I think Mac version's Outlook also contributes to the Mac increase usage in the office. Accountant related software PC is still the king.
     
hayesk
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Mar 26, 2014, 09:43 AM
 
"I think the most pertinent question is "what system will allow me to run Office or Quickbooks better and allow me to be the most productive"?"

besson3c, that's still the wrong question corporate employees should ask. The question should be "what system and applications will allow me to be the most productive."
     
besson3c
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Mar 27, 2014, 01:49 PM
 
Originally Posted by hayesk View Post
"I think the most pertinent question is "what system will allow me to run Office or Quickbooks better and allow me to be the most productive"?"

besson3c, that's still the wrong question corporate employees should ask. The question should be "what system and applications will allow me to be the most productive."

Well, my question is assuming that running Quickbooks/Office is an absolute given, but yes, I agree, although the system is of secondary concern to the applications.
     
BLAZE_MkIV
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Mar 27, 2014, 08:27 PM
 
Don't forget there isn't a version of IE6 for Mac.
     
ChasmoeBrown
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Mar 28, 2014, 04:00 AM
 
Is your concern is the best platform for running your Windows apps, you might check with PC Magazine, at least for laptops. For years, they claimed that the best laptop to run Windows was the MacBook Pro. Fastest, too - how I don't know, must have BootCamp. And it wasn't a one-year fluke - it's been several years they rated the MBP best Windows laptop.

I run Windows apps on my Mac via Parallels. They all run very fast, BUT I have 16GB of RAM.
     
   
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