Apple Enterprise market. I don't think they can compete with the Novell side of the market. Plus cross platform compatibility. Having Mac OS X on a Novell of NT network just doesn't fly.
Everything is moving to virtualized servers period.
You can purchase better hardware that is better suited for virtualzation from other vendors and that is why Apple got out of the server market plain and simple.
There was not a reason to build products that they could load VMWare, Citrix or Hyper-V on.
The same money you spend on one Apple product you can order 2 (Enterprise class servers, ECC, XEON ect) and load ESXi on each of them and purchase a SAN for nearly the same price.
I applaud Apple not waisting there time on this, there is no point and they can concentrait on what they do best Mobile and desktops.
Getting rid of the Mac Pro is another smart move IMHO there is no need for it any longer.
Thunderbolt, Quad Core i7, 8 Gigs of memory in iMacs and soon laptops why, in realistic terms, would you put that kind of iron into an enviroment with that kind of price point, it does not make since on consumer and enterprise level.
Before I get blasted with the FCP comments I use FCP on an i7 iMac with zero issues.
Besides I read in this forum almost weekly how FCP is a prosumer product now anyway.
iMacs are actually perfect in the enterprise market because less components (the monitor is a none issue and if that is the basis for your argument then you dont understand any of the other points I made) Dual OS's, longer service life.
BTW Apple PC's last longer in Enterprise because people treat them differently, they are proud and excited to use them unlike WinTell which are "Just Windows" computers.
I work for several companies maintaining "Enterprise" networks and every thing I stated I have personally seen with over 20 companies in the last 5 years.
IT managers are not the problem it is the lower level techs that are a problem.
Managers like the newer stuff and if it can make them look good to the executives then they are all for it.
The techs sabotage (I have been personally responsable for busting 12 of them for this) so they dont have to learn, divert from there play... sorry... work time on face book, twitter and the like.
"Enterprise class" has a specific meaning. Redundant power supplies, hot-swappable RAID drives, ECC RAM, etc. Essentially, the machine needs to have a 99.999 % uptime (or something like that).
The xServe was close, but was discontinued. Bringing back the xServe would be a start, especially if it were tweaked to meet all the Enterprise requirements.
That said, there is a near-infinite range of computer requirements for Enterprises. Even a big company might find applications for the Mini or iMac or MacBook Pro or any of Apple's other products. Additional effort in selling to Enterprises might increase sales of those existing products. But none of the current products are truly Enterprise Class - and that needs to be addressed only if Apple is really interested in that end of the market.
Thunderbolt is a step in the right direction.
I have a loaded iMac 27 TB and an external Promise Pegasus 12 TB RAID (hot swappable -- I tested it).
The raid is much faster than the Internal HDD.
I hope we see TB Compute Boxes:
-- minimal SSD for OS Storage
-- Lots of RAM
-- Lots of CPU Cores
-- Lots of GPU Cores
-- 2 TB Ports
Need more compute power -- just add more compute boxes
Apple's enterprise strategy is inconsistent and ever-changing - the opposite of what we IT admins need. I run Xserves for critical services, and minis for ones that don't need 100% uptime. Lion Server has some great features in it for managing MacOS and iOS devices, but without real server hardware to run it on, how can it really scale up? Don't get me started on how neglected ARD is either. Businesses may be buying iPads and MacBooks in larger numbers, but I believe Apple's lack of real enterprise support (hardware and management tools) will restrict how far it grow in large businesses.
So are you saying that it's impossible for Apple to make Macs more friendly in this Windows environment?
I think Apple could remove a good deal of that barrier if it wished.
I don't think Apple can do anything to help enterprise IT departments integrate Macs into their network when so much of it requires Windows. That is unless they want to run Windows on the Macs, but even then the keyboards don't allow Control, Alt, Delete, necessary to log in. Yes, I know there is a way to send that command but it doesn't work over VPN and is difficult to remember how, I know, since I already forgot.
I will have to disagree with you. Each Apple store has a business rep, and when I owned my little shop, they moved Heaven and Earth to get me what I needed. Perhaps they were not chasing them begging for their business, but they, from my experience, cared about Small business. As to Enterprise, I have no knowledge.
There are endless small companies who have servers - and don't know how to manage them. So they either do without or spend a fortune on outsourced services.
OS X Server is so incredibly easy to use that any reasonable competent computer user can manage it - providing advanced server functionality at a reasonable cost to even very small businesses.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
I don't think Apple can do anything to help enterprise IT departments integrate Macs into their network when so much of it requires Windows. That is unless they want to run Windows on the Macs, but even then the keyboards don't allow Control, Alt, Delete, necessary to log in. Yes, I know there is a way to send that command but it doesn't work over VPN and is difficult to remember how, I know, since I already forgot.
Not at all. First, OS X integrates quite nicely with Windows networks. Second, there is a major advantage. Try pricing a Windows Server for unlimited users. Now, look at OS X Server for unlimited users. The cost savings are large enough to justify a little bit of effort learning how to use it.
yep. You know how the enterprise + MS gatekeep works for a developer? Well first after you get access to the local MSDN server you download the helper app, which you use to download the install image for the particular flavor of Visual Studio you are authorized to install (but it took 2 hours, several emails, phone calls and walking around to figure that part out). Then when you run the installer (of your local network provided software) it requires you to burn a DVD!!!!
And then you get to request permission to install the software via DVD. The software which all fit in RAM because you are running on a big bad developer box with more RAM than needed to simulate the Armageddon, with enough RAM to mount several DVD images in RAM (and even have image mounting software on the box already) but the IT guys ad MS refuse you let you install without burning to DVD first.
It took hours -- decrypting, burning, verifying, reading bit by bit off the optical media and then installing -- what should have taken just a couple minutes installing to the SSHD from a DVD image in RAM.
Yes, this is what it takes in the modern world to be considered enterprise supportive. When your crazy tech provider CEO says "Are you nucking futz?", "you want me to screw everyone over like that?", "in the name of being enterprise friendly?"!!! The only reasonable response to that is that the majority of the enterprise IT support folks aren't making the enterprise more efficient and adding business value to the organization. They are only there to ensure job security and are so risk adverse that accepting completely whacky behavior like the above becomes the norm.
Look, people in my position, spending that amount of time, waste almost 50% of the cost of that dev god-box in lost productivity installing the basic MS office and developer suites. If someone wants to counter that a network install would be better, they haven't tried many of those either. I have a 1Gb drop to the desk and 10GB to the building so throughput should be good, but I have to mash buttons on the screen -- while the IT rep is on the phone with me, because the remote control software is now considered a security risk for various reasonable reasons.
Please just give me a corporate key for the Mac App store and let me live with the lack of "industry" pandering support.
I enjoy your posts -- the perspective is quite enlightening!
Mac has a lot to do for macs to be enterprise friendly. They really need to work on things like better remote security controls.
I want to control easily from a server when a mac shuts down . I want to be able to pretty much control everything on a mac from a mac server without having to script everything.
We are trying to put macs in a public lab and its been a pain in the butt. I was told by apple themselves that i can only do controls via parental controls on osx.
Iwant to be able to shutdown the mac at one time mon night through fri night and another at sat night and sun but parental controls only does sun through thurs night and fri night through sat night.
Things like that makes it a real pain to setup macs in an enterprise environment.
PLus being able to control which programs run and which dont. This is not as easy as it seems because the mac way still has programs popping up that are supposidly allowed to run that dont.
"Cook is 'more at ease' meeting with enterprise customers?"
How unfortunate. Pandering to people whose raison d'être is an endless orgy of greed never results in the production of anything except more of the same.
While most of America has been busy demonstrating that excellence can't arise from an obsession with money, Apple has been proving that vast sums of money can result from an obsession with excellence. Jobs' personal success seems to have come from three things: the ability to recognize crap, the willingness to call crap crap, and the belief that we're capable of something beyond crap.
Cozying up to the crapmeisters will have a predictable result.
IT guys are not usually risk takers. If they go out on a limb and recommend that the entire network be switched to Macs they would have a lot of explaining to do. To keep the status quo is a lot safer.
You would have to be totally incompetent to rip and replace everything in one shot and why would you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
Let the top execs and outside sales people have their iPhones and iPads and allow them to access their email from Exchange but that is about as far as it goes. When you are not familiar with Macs it is difficult to keep them secured on the network. For example, I am familiar with one corporation that has their PCs all locked down, no software can be installed without Administrator privileges, however, the art department has Macs and they are wide open.
You can very easily lock down OSX so that no software can be installed by users.
Not at all. First, OS X integrates quite nicely with Windows networks. Second, there is a major advantage. Try pricing a Windows Server for unlimited users. Now, look at OS X Server for unlimited users. The cost savings are large enough to justify a little bit of effort learning how to use it.
Dream on. If it makes so much sense why don't IT departments do it? Oh you mean because their CRM runs on Windows, their accounting application runs on Windows, their database runs on Windows, their mail runs on Windows, their twenty zillion copies of Office and Acrobat all run on Windows. Lets spend a billion dollars upgrading all our software and hardware, retrain all our users and hire all new IT support staff just to save a couple thousand dollars on a Mac server that doesn't even have a redundant power supply and absolutely no support timeline other than probably to be discontinued in the near future. Nice plan.
Look at Apples laptop line up and explain to me what is wrong with hem in a corporate environment! Really this is so ignorant as to be unbelievable in a forum populated with intelligent readers.
Apples desktop line up is messed up for the consumer as it is for the enterprise. However I can't see any reasonable reason why one would go with an Apple server when there are so many other choices available.
Will we ever hear the end of this whine from the entitlement community? Final Cut is only consumer centric because you don't like some of the design decisions made with the recent release. Frankly I don't see a lot of consumers running out to buy Final Cut, probably because it is more of a Pro app than they need.
Lion is a great product. It has it's short comings just like Leopard and Snow Leopard before it.
Give me a break. What sort of non trivial company runs everything on one platform? Frankly trivial operations can now run on the iPhone or iPad. If you have a DBA it might even make sense to run your business from an iPhone. On the flip side the large corporation I work for has always had a heterogeneous hardware mix in the IT rooms even during periods of excessive control over the desktop.
There seems to be a mind set that says Apple isn't suitable for business because they don't sell item xyz. Sadly that is like saying Haas isn't suitable for business because they don't sell sewing machines. If anything Apples focused line up makes for easier business decisions as they either have or don't have what you are looking for.
You are the perfect example of why Apple is perceived of not only as enterprise-unfriendly, but a belligerent cult. "Ignorant" "whine" "entitlement community" - yeah, the best way to keep to customers is to declare that there can't be anything wrong with Apple - it has to be YOU. You can't see why anyone would go with an Apple server? How about that Apple aggressively sold us their server products? What's wrong with the Apple laptop line? How about increasing the price point hundreds of dollars by killing off the white Macbook and offering only more expensive Macbook Pro's or Airs? (and no, 11" screens are not comparable to 13's")
Have your ever been anywhere near the responsibilities of running a large or midsize business?
One of key reasons Apple's consumer business works so well is that it's dependable. No one buys an iPhone wondering if they'll drop the product line next year. Yet, increasingly, that's Apple's attitude towards business related products - touting how good their servers are, or how all the Hollywood editors are using Final Cut Pro - and then pulling the rug out from under you when they grow bored of the segment. We got zero notice when the white Macbook was pulled, and the same will probably be true with the Mac Pro, which will eliminate Apple's last fully expandable machine.
You, and many who post here, have it backwards. Corporations don't exist to conform to what works best for Apple; nor should they.
"Enterprise class" has a specific meaning. Redundant power supplies, hot-swappable RAID drives, ECC RAM, etc. Essentially, the machine needs to have a 99.999 % uptime (or something like that).
The xServe was close, but was discontinued. Bringing back the xServe would be a start, especially if it were tweaked to meet all the Enterprise requirements.
That said, there is a near-infinite range of computer requirements for Enterprises. Even a big company might find applications for the Mini or iMac or MacBook Pro or any of Apple's other products. Additional effort in selling to Enterprises might increase sales of those existing products. But none of the current products are truly Enterprise Class - and that needs to be addressed only if Apple is really interested in that end of the market.
Sounds like it has a specific meaning to you. To me enterprise means laptops, phones, tablets, and servers. Yes, Apple does not have a rackable server anymore. But the things you point out are not in any laptop, phone or tablet.
You would have to be totally incompetent to rip and replace everything in one shot and why would you?
Of course it would be stupid. That is what is appealing about keeping the status quo. When your whole network is Windows only, or Mac only, there are no integration issues. It is when you mix the two that the nightmare begins.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bullhead
You can very easily lock down OSX so that no software can be installed by users.
That is if you know how to administer Macs. Same reason you don't take your Ford to the GM dealer for service. They specialize in one system. Windows IT people don't want to touch the Macs.
That's of course nonsense, Apple has proved to us over and over again to not give a rat's ass about enterprise or small business. Nothing, nada, zilch!
Gotta agree with ya... Apple and ever more so Steve has always demanded secrecy till the day a a product rollout... This fine for home users and perhaps tolerable for 'small shops' however a company with tens of thousands of workstations this just doesn't fly. They have a real business need to know what they will be buying for at least 18 months ... Even that would be less than optimal for most CIOs.
Apple also has this neat habit of killing an existing model DEAD as soon as a successor is rolled out.... Believe it or not MOST if not ALL big corporations will continue to buy 'old stuff' for over a year while they properly evaluate the new hardware for deployment. Having the rug pulled out at ZERO days notice is just too maddening for big institutions.
In a previous life I've purchased millions of dollars of apple hardware for a large research institute and the fact was the institute was split right down the middle with researchers almost always buying Macs and the public facing and business units almost always going or being forced into windows.
There are endless small companies who have servers - and don't know how to manage them. So they either do without or spend a fortune on outsourced services.
OS X Server is so incredibly easy to use that any reasonable competent computer user can manage it - providing advanced server functionality at a reasonable cost to even very small businesses.
You dont understand the point.
You are talking about small business (150,000.00 to 1 Million a year) where there is a friend of the owner, part time person or out-sourced IT.
The topic was on "Enterprise" (1 Million and Up) and with that my point is valid.
Please do not add small business to the topic and claim it a point because that is not "Enterprise" customers.
For the point you are making you are absolutely right and a Mac Mini server fills that spot nicely ... "Small Buisness" not "Enterprise".
As does WIndows Server 2011 with 2008 RC2 and Exchange 2010 (This is actually a nice package for the price point) and a small business can call any IT support company as this is industry standard at this point.
People know just enough now from time they spend at a small company working the IT and some how think they know enterprise.
Comments
Everything is moving to virtualized servers period.
You can purchase better hardware that is better suited for virtualzation from other vendors and that is why Apple got out of the server market plain and simple.
There was not a reason to build products that they could load VMWare, Citrix or Hyper-V on.
The same money you spend on one Apple product you can order 2 (Enterprise class servers, ECC, XEON ect) and load ESXi on each of them and purchase a SAN for nearly the same price.
I applaud Apple not waisting there time on this, there is no point and they can concentrait on what they do best Mobile and desktops.
Getting rid of the Mac Pro is another smart move IMHO there is no need for it any longer.
Thunderbolt, Quad Core i7, 8 Gigs of memory in iMacs and soon laptops why, in realistic terms, would you put that kind of iron into an enviroment with that kind of price point, it does not make since on consumer and enterprise level.
Before I get blasted with the FCP comments I use FCP on an i7 iMac with zero issues.
Besides I read in this forum almost weekly how FCP is a prosumer product now anyway.
iMacs are actually perfect in the enterprise market because less components (the monitor is a none issue and if that is the basis for your argument then you dont understand any of the other points I made) Dual OS's, longer service life.
BTW Apple PC's last longer in Enterprise because people treat them differently, they are proud and excited to use them unlike WinTell which are "Just Windows" computers.
I work for several companies maintaining "Enterprise" networks and every thing I stated I have personally seen with over 20 companies in the last 5 years.
IT managers are not the problem it is the lower level techs that are a problem.
Managers like the newer stuff and if it can make them look good to the executives then they are all for it.
The techs sabotage (I have been personally responsable for busting 12 of them for this) so they dont have to learn, divert from there play... sorry... work time on face book, twitter and the like.
Just what I think and have seen
"Enterprise class" has a specific meaning. Redundant power supplies, hot-swappable RAID drives, ECC RAM, etc. Essentially, the machine needs to have a 99.999 % uptime (or something like that).
The xServe was close, but was discontinued. Bringing back the xServe would be a start, especially if it were tweaked to meet all the Enterprise requirements.
That said, there is a near-infinite range of computer requirements for Enterprises. Even a big company might find applications for the Mini or iMac or MacBook Pro or any of Apple's other products. Additional effort in selling to Enterprises might increase sales of those existing products. But none of the current products are truly Enterprise Class - and that needs to be addressed only if Apple is really interested in that end of the market.
Thunderbolt is a step in the right direction.
I have a loaded iMac 27 TB and an external Promise Pegasus 12 TB RAID (hot swappable -- I tested it).
The raid is much faster than the Internal HDD.
I hope we see TB Compute Boxes:
-- minimal SSD for OS Storage
-- Lots of RAM
-- Lots of CPU Cores
-- Lots of GPU Cores
-- 2 TB Ports
Need more compute power -- just add more compute boxes
So are you saying that it's impossible for Apple to make Macs more friendly in this Windows environment?
I think Apple could remove a good deal of that barrier if it wished.
I don't think Apple can do anything to help enterprise IT departments integrate Macs into their network when so much of it requires Windows. That is unless they want to run Windows on the Macs, but even then the keyboards don't allow Control, Alt, Delete, necessary to log in. Yes, I know there is a way to send that command but it doesn't work over VPN and is difficult to remember how, I know, since I already forgot.
The raid is much faster than the Internal HDD.
I wonder why that is. Unless the the RAID has more cache or is striped. One would think they should be about the same speed for average read/writes.
Apple servers are pointless.
That is, of course, nonsense.
There are endless small companies who have servers - and don't know how to manage them. So they either do without or spend a fortune on outsourced services.
OS X Server is so incredibly easy to use that any reasonable competent computer user can manage it - providing advanced server functionality at a reasonable cost to even very small businesses.
I don't think Apple can do anything to help enterprise IT departments integrate Macs into their network when so much of it requires Windows. That is unless they want to run Windows on the Macs, but even then the keyboards don't allow Control, Alt, Delete, necessary to log in. Yes, I know there is a way to send that command but it doesn't work over VPN and is difficult to remember how, I know, since I already forgot.
Not at all. First, OS X integrates quite nicely with Windows networks. Second, there is a major advantage. Try pricing a Windows Server for unlimited users. Now, look at OS X Server for unlimited users. The cost savings are large enough to justify a little bit of effort learning how to use it.
yep. You know how the enterprise + MS gatekeep works for a developer? Well first after you get access to the local MSDN server you download the helper app, which you use to download the install image for the particular flavor of Visual Studio you are authorized to install (but it took 2 hours, several emails, phone calls and walking around to figure that part out). Then when you run the installer (of your local network provided software) it requires you to burn a DVD!!!!
And then you get to request permission to install the software via DVD. The software which all fit in RAM because you are running on a big bad developer box with more RAM than needed to simulate the Armageddon, with enough RAM to mount several DVD images in RAM (and even have image mounting software on the box already) but the IT guys ad MS refuse you let you install without burning to DVD first.
It took hours -- decrypting, burning, verifying, reading bit by bit off the optical media and then installing -- what should have taken just a couple minutes installing to the SSHD from a DVD image in RAM.
Yes, this is what it takes in the modern world to be considered enterprise supportive. When your crazy tech provider CEO says "Are you nucking futz?", "you want me to screw everyone over like that?", "in the name of being enterprise friendly?"!!! The only reasonable response to that is that the majority of the enterprise IT support folks aren't making the enterprise more efficient and adding business value to the organization. They are only there to ensure job security and are so risk adverse that accepting completely whacky behavior like the above becomes the norm.
Look, people in my position, spending that amount of time, waste almost 50% of the cost of that dev god-box in lost productivity installing the basic MS office and developer suites. If someone wants to counter that a network install would be better, they haven't tried many of those either. I have a 1Gb drop to the desk and 10GB to the building so throughput should be good, but I have to mash buttons on the screen -- while the IT rep is on the phone with me, because the remote control software is now considered a security risk for various reasonable reasons.
Please just give me a corporate key for the Mac App store and let me live with the lack of "industry" pandering support.
I enjoy your posts -- the perspective is quite enlightening!
How are Macs not "enterprise-class"?
"Enterprise-class" is double speak for "cheap-assed throw away junk." So no, Macs are not "enterprise-class" in context.
I want to control easily from a server when a mac shuts down . I want to be able to pretty much control everything on a mac from a mac server without having to script everything.
We are trying to put macs in a public lab and its been a pain in the butt. I was told by apple themselves that i can only do controls via parental controls on osx.
Iwant to be able to shutdown the mac at one time mon night through fri night and another at sat night and sun but parental controls only does sun through thurs night and fri night through sat night.
Things like that makes it a real pain to setup macs in an enterprise environment.
PLus being able to control which programs run and which dont. This is not as easy as it seems because the mac way still has programs popping up that are supposidly allowed to run that dont.
Its a big mess.
How unfortunate. Pandering to people whose raison d'être is an endless orgy of greed never results in the production of anything except more of the same.
While most of America has been busy demonstrating that excellence can't arise from an obsession with money, Apple has been proving that vast sums of money can result from an obsession with excellence. Jobs' personal success seems to have come from three things: the ability to recognize crap, the willingness to call crap crap, and the belief that we're capable of something beyond crap.
Cozying up to the crapmeisters will have a predictable result.
IT guys are not usually risk takers. If they go out on a limb and recommend that the entire network be switched to Macs they would have a lot of explaining to do. To keep the status quo is a lot safer.
You would have to be totally incompetent to rip and replace everything in one shot and why would you?
Let the top execs and outside sales people have their iPhones and iPads and allow them to access their email from Exchange but that is about as far as it goes. When you are not familiar with Macs it is difficult to keep them secured on the network. For example, I am familiar with one corporation that has their PCs all locked down, no software can be installed without Administrator privileges, however, the art department has Macs and they are wide open.
You can very easily lock down OSX so that no software can be installed by users.
Not at all. First, OS X integrates quite nicely with Windows networks. Second, there is a major advantage. Try pricing a Windows Server for unlimited users. Now, look at OS X Server for unlimited users. The cost savings are large enough to justify a little bit of effort learning how to use it.
Dream on. If it makes so much sense why don't IT departments do it? Oh you mean because their CRM runs on Windows, their accounting application runs on Windows, their database runs on Windows, their mail runs on Windows, their twenty zillion copies of Office and Acrobat all run on Windows. Lets spend a billion dollars upgrading all our software and hardware, retrain all our users and hire all new IT support staff just to save a couple thousand dollars on a Mac server that doesn't even have a redundant power supply and absolutely no support timeline other than probably to be discontinued in the near future. Nice plan.
Look at Apples laptop line up and explain to me what is wrong with hem in a corporate environment! Really this is so ignorant as to be unbelievable in a forum populated with intelligent readers.
Apples desktop line up is messed up for the consumer as it is for the enterprise. However I can't see any reasonable reason why one would go with an Apple server when there are so many other choices available.
Will we ever hear the end of this whine from the entitlement community? Final Cut is only consumer centric because you don't like some of the design decisions made with the recent release. Frankly I don't see a lot of consumers running out to buy Final Cut, probably because it is more of a Pro app than they need.
Lion is a great product. It has it's short comings just like Leopard and Snow Leopard before it.
Give me a break. What sort of non trivial company runs everything on one platform? Frankly trivial operations can now run on the iPhone or iPad. If you have a DBA it might even make sense to run your business from an iPhone. On the flip side the large corporation I work for has always had a heterogeneous hardware mix in the IT rooms even during periods of excessive control over the desktop.
There seems to be a mind set that says Apple isn't suitable for business because they don't sell item xyz. Sadly that is like saying Haas isn't suitable for business because they don't sell sewing machines. If anything Apples focused line up makes for easier business decisions as they either have or don't have what you are looking for.
You are the perfect example of why Apple is perceived of not only as enterprise-unfriendly, but a belligerent cult. "Ignorant" "whine" "entitlement community" - yeah, the best way to keep to customers is to declare that there can't be anything wrong with Apple - it has to be YOU. You can't see why anyone would go with an Apple server? How about that Apple aggressively sold us their server products? What's wrong with the Apple laptop line? How about increasing the price point hundreds of dollars by killing off the white Macbook and offering only more expensive Macbook Pro's or Airs? (and no, 11" screens are not comparable to 13's")
Have your ever been anywhere near the responsibilities of running a large or midsize business?
One of key reasons Apple's consumer business works so well is that it's dependable. No one buys an iPhone wondering if they'll drop the product line next year. Yet, increasingly, that's Apple's attitude towards business related products - touting how good their servers are, or how all the Hollywood editors are using Final Cut Pro - and then pulling the rug out from under you when they grow bored of the segment. We got zero notice when the white Macbook was pulled, and the same will probably be true with the Mac Pro, which will eliminate Apple's last fully expandable machine.
You, and many who post here, have it backwards. Corporations don't exist to conform to what works best for Apple; nor should they.
"Enterprise class" has a specific meaning. Redundant power supplies, hot-swappable RAID drives, ECC RAM, etc. Essentially, the machine needs to have a 99.999 % uptime (or something like that).
The xServe was close, but was discontinued. Bringing back the xServe would be a start, especially if it were tweaked to meet all the Enterprise requirements.
That said, there is a near-infinite range of computer requirements for Enterprises. Even a big company might find applications for the Mini or iMac or MacBook Pro or any of Apple's other products. Additional effort in selling to Enterprises might increase sales of those existing products. But none of the current products are truly Enterprise Class - and that needs to be addressed only if Apple is really interested in that end of the market.
Sounds like it has a specific meaning to you. To me enterprise means laptops, phones, tablets, and servers. Yes, Apple does not have a rackable server anymore. But the things you point out are not in any laptop, phone or tablet.
I would say the fact that they discontinued their server line at the beginning of this year shows that they are trying to move away from enterprise.
So laptops, phones, and tablets are not used by enterprises? Huh?
You would have to be totally incompetent to rip and replace everything in one shot and why would you?
Of course it would be stupid. That is what is appealing about keeping the status quo. When your whole network is Windows only, or Mac only, there are no integration issues. It is when you mix the two that the nightmare begins.
You can very easily lock down OSX so that no software can be installed by users.
That is if you know how to administer Macs. Same reason you don't take your Ford to the GM dealer for service. They specialize in one system. Windows IT people don't want to touch the Macs.
That's of course nonsense, Apple has proved to us over and over again to not give a rat's ass about enterprise or small business. Nothing, nada, zilch!
Gotta agree with ya... Apple and ever more so Steve has always demanded secrecy till the day a a product rollout... This fine for home users and perhaps tolerable for 'small shops' however a company with tens of thousands of workstations this just doesn't fly. They have a real business need to know what they will be buying for at least 18 months ... Even that would be less than optimal for most CIOs.
Apple also has this neat habit of killing an existing model DEAD as soon as a successor is rolled out.... Believe it or not MOST if not ALL big corporations will continue to buy 'old stuff' for over a year while they properly evaluate the new hardware for deployment. Having the rug pulled out at ZERO days notice is just too maddening for big institutions.
In a previous life I've purchased millions of dollars of apple hardware for a large research institute and the fact was the institute was split right down the middle with researchers almost always buying Macs and the public facing and business units almost always going or being forced into windows.
Fun times but I don't miss em...
That is, of course, nonsense.
There are endless small companies who have servers - and don't know how to manage them. So they either do without or spend a fortune on outsourced services.
OS X Server is so incredibly easy to use that any reasonable competent computer user can manage it - providing advanced server functionality at a reasonable cost to even very small businesses.
You dont understand the point.
You are talking about small business (150,000.00 to 1 Million a year) where there is a friend of the owner, part time person or out-sourced IT.
The topic was on "Enterprise" (1 Million and Up) and with that my point is valid.
Please do not add small business to the topic and claim it a point because that is not "Enterprise" customers.
For the point you are making you are absolutely right and a Mac Mini server fills that spot nicely ... "Small Buisness" not "Enterprise".
As does WIndows Server 2011 with 2008 RC2 and Exchange 2010 (This is actually a nice package for the price point) and a small business can call any IT support company as this is industry standard at this point.
People know just enough now from time they spend at a small company working the IT and some how think they know enterprise.