Departing Apple enterprise sales chief won't be replaced

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
The vice president in charge of Apple's enterprise sales for the past four years is leaving the Mac maker and will not be replaced, according to a published report.



The Mac Observer notes that Al Shipp, who's run the company's business sales division since 2004, will see his supporting cast rolled into the company's broader sales team for the Americas and Asia Pacific, which has been under the control of vice president John Brandon for the past 7 years.



Among the team members making the jump are Stuart Maclennan, a Director responsible for non-governmental territory sales; David Puklin, a Director responsible for named accounts; and Ron Police, the Vice President of Federal and Government Sales.



At face value, the move would suggest Apple is surrendering a large portion of its efforts to infiltrate businesses. The change, however, is more likely a shift in strategy as the Cupertino-based company prepares to close in on the market.



In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week, Apple boldly noted a change in strategy for its 2009 fiscal year, by which it plans to target consumers in addition to " small and mid-sized business (“SMB”), education, enterprise, government," as well as its trademark audience of creative professionals.



Last year's filing covering the 2008 fiscal year stated the company would focus on its "digital lifestyle" products for consumers and the company's stronghold markets in education and creativity, relegating all other business into a single sentence.



In a followup article on TMO, Apple fellow John Martellaro therefor suggests the company's move to do away with a dedicated enterprise sales lead more likely marks a return to chief executive Steve Jobs' grassroots strategy of having Macs sell themselves.



"What's ultimately the key here is that Steve Jobs believes that people should want to buy a great computer," he wrote. "Selling them is [a] great idea, if the customer is willing to believe that buying the best product is the right thing to do. But cleverly and deceptively maneuvering a customer into a sale, when they're playing you against the competition, is not Mr. Jobs' religion."



Apple is also likely looking to encroach on the enterprise market on its own terms, he adds, not through the demands of big businesses who may ask the company to cripple its products for security reasons, or for it to extend the production of a specific model well past its intended life-cycle.







So far, the company's approach appears to working. A report published by Forrester Research this August noted that Mac deployment in the enterprise has climbed from 1.1 percent in October 2006 to 4.5 percent in June of 2008. While that's much lower than Apple's nearly 20 percent share of the US consumer PC retail market or its 8 percent share of the entire US PC and server market, it's significantly higher than the company's 3.5 percent share of all PCs and servers sold worldwide.



In the report, analyst Benjamin Gray stated that Mac adoption is being pushed upward by consumer demand, not special concessions on the part of the Mac maker.



"Strong iPod branding and sales have led to greater consumer sales of Apple PCs," he wrote. "In turn, this has lured enthusiasts and small workgroups with supple IT departments beyond the standard domain of design and media."

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    mactelmactel Posts: 1,275member
    The xServe is slow to be updated. There still are no xBlades and Apple's storage solution was axed. Apple's entry into Enterprise seems weak at this point. Snow Leopard might give more of an indication where they are going on the server software side. We'll see in 8 months.
  • Reply 2 of 16
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    So far, the company's approach appears to working.



    It's working only because Microsoft is faltering, not due in any part whatsoever to what Apple is doing. I've had to fight tooth & nail to get & keep Macs in Enterprise all along, and it's no easier now than it was five years ago. The OS still isn't fully Enterprise compliant (no DFS support in Leopard, for example) and I hear from my Enterprise sales rep. maybe about once per quarter. When we find deficiencies in Leopard that prevent rollout of the new hardware we bought, we have to pay for an Enterprise support agreement with Apple to get assistance. That's a helluva thing after paying hundreds of thousands for new hardware. They even charge you one of your 10 Enterprise support incidents when you find a bug in Leopard; essentially it costs $500-worth of support to be told "Oh yeah, that's broken. We'll fix it in the next Leopard update." This is NOT how you keep Enterprise customers, Apple.
  • Reply 3 of 16
    Quote:

    "What's ultimately the key here is that Steve Jobs believes that people should want to buy a great computer," he wrote. "Selling them is [a] great idea, if the customer is willing to believe that buying the best product is the right thing to do. But cleverly and deceptively maneuvering a customer into a sale, when they're playing you against the competition, is not Mr. Jobs' religion."



    What a fucking Moron. He's little Steve Joblet trying to perfect his RDF.



    Apple is not an Enterprise Company. Jobs' has stated this over and over. People just need to let the dream die. In order to play in the Enterprise space you need to push the envelope. Apple couldn't even keep their branded RAID system alive.



    Apple has a better OS for consumers but their hardware is decidedly pedestrian IMO.
  • Reply 4 of 16
    rickagrickag Posts: 1,626member
    Quote:

    In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week, Apple boldly noted a change in strategy for its 2009 fiscal year, by which it plans to target consumers in addition to " small and mid-sized business (?SMB?), education, enterprise, government," as well as its trademark audience of creative professionals.



    This is going to be tough if they continue with the current desktop product matrix.



    Mini languishing without updates is a capable lower end machine that would work in many applications.

    iMac is an AIO with much built in resistance from IT.

    PowerMac is way over kill for most business computers.



    I think their statement concerning small and mid-sized business is a real afterthought to give the appearance they really do care.



    Enterprise will take a major overhaul of how they handle business and I doubt they can make any real headway for the foreseeable future. Maybe they can buddy up with IBM somehow, but I believe there would be major culture clashes.
  • Reply 5 of 16
    Many folks think that Apple in the Enterprise means "servers". The real money in the Enterprise is notebooks be it leased, purchased, and the support that goes with them. Where I work (Very large tech company), IT just sent out an email stating that Apple Macintosh computers will be available via the IT refresh program. People who think Apple is not interested in the Enterprise have never received Apple's mailer "Apple in the Enterprise" or spoken to one of Apple's dedicated corporate buyer agents. They are always very eager to know what they can do to assist the customer and of course grow their presence in the Enterprise.
  • Reply 6 of 16
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Phone-UI-Guy View Post


    Many folks think that Apple in the Enterprise means "servers". The real money in the Enterprise is notebooks be it leased, purchased, and the support that goes with them. Where I work (Very large tech company), IT just sent out an email stating that Apple Macintosh computers will be available via the IT refresh program. People who think Apple is not interested in the Enterprise have never received Apple's mailer "Apple in the Enterprise" or spoken to one of Apple's dedicated corporate buyer agents. They are always very eager to know what they can do to assist the customer and of course grow their presence in the Enterprise.



    That's great to know. Why not point your contacts at this thread as there have already been concerning lapses reported above that they should do something about.



    Regarding the iPhone, Apple listed all the key demands of 'users' (after the first one had been out for a time) and seemed to have collaborated with 'industry'/'enterprise' to identify what would make it work there. Perhaps they should do the same with the Mac.



    I too have difficulty getting Macs at work; they are virtually banned by our IT Dept and we need the issues to be collated and responded to, even if that is to tease out the real issues and debunk some spurious ones.



    So, overall, of course we want great computers and of course many know that means Macs but that alone is not convincing IT Depts who don't care if you have to put up with a PC and who think it will cost more or be more complicated to manage Macs as well (even though there is evidence to the contrary).



    Apple also need to work with Government regulators (notably re security in the UK) to be able to quickly and easily debunk security myths and to get a clear approval for Mac OS X and how it should be configured to be acceptable. This would remove many excuses from both Government and non-Government customers!
  • Reply 7 of 16
    sabonsabon Posts: 134member
    I work for a govt agency with just over 10,000 people. They are VERY anti-Apple and super brown necking pro Microsoft.



    If you don't know what brown necking is, consider it as a brown noser who is a more aggressive brown noser.



    We have Novell networks here. But they are being replaced more and more with Windows servers. We use GroupWise but are changing to Outlook/Exchange.



    I know most of you, even though you use Macs, are still brown nosers/neckers when it comes to e-mail and can't picture using anything but Outlook/Exchange. This is a sad point of view and I'm not going to convince you in this post what a bad thing that is.



    Despite all this, my bringing in my 24" iMac to work and then back home at the end of the day got lots of attention. Both good and bad.



    I was told I would be written up if I connected it to the network. Yes they agree that security is very good. The issue is viruses. They are worried that even if I put anti-virus software on my Mac that, while it wouldn't affect me because I don't have any Microsoft products on my personal computers, that me sharing them with others at work that viruses in the documents/spreadsheets would infect work computers, all of which are Windows (with a few Linux and Macs hidden here and there but mostly off the network.



    The good part is that with me bringing in my iMac to work quite a few Microsoft brown nosers and neckers got to see it and make comments about it. Such as, "Apple products can't do such and such." I then showed them that Apple products COULD do such and such. And each time they come up with something I showed them they were wrong.



    We have some services that run on UNIX servers so we have some UNIX people. They have also said that Apple computers can't do this or that. I showed them the document about Mac OS X being fully UNIX certified and then showed them the BASH shell. Their jaws dropped open. Literally with one of them.



    The result is that over a couple dozen people out of the about 200 techs on the three floors around me have bought Apple computers, including UNIX guys as well as brown necking Microsoft people..



    Some freely talk to me about their Apple computers. Others are ashamed or whatever. Note that I never said, "I told you so." I just showed them what it could do and let it go from there.



    Some people have bought Apple computers and won't tell me at all. But people they have talked to have told me. There is one high up executive that ended up buying an Apple computer as a result me bringing mine in. He is also one of the brown neckers so it was a big surprise to me and the person that told me about the Mac he bought. He was over at this exec's house and got a picture of the Mac with his cell phone.



    The products are selling themselves. I think about five years from now people will be surprised at how many Apple computers are "legally" plugged into networks in companies and govt agencies.
  • Reply 8 of 16
    haggarhaggar Posts: 1,568member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Apple is also likely looking to encroach on the enterprise market on its own terms, he adds, not through the demands of big businesses who may ask the company to cripple its products for security reasons, or for it to extend the production of a specific model well past its intended life-cycle.



    Apple already cripples and languishes the Mac Mini, without any "demands of big businesses".
  • Reply 9 of 16
    There job listings reveal their strategy for the enterprise using the iPhone as their trojan horse.



    They have definitely cut back on job listings, as well.
  • Reply 10 of 16
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sabon View Post


    I work for a govt agency with just over 10,000 people. They are VERY anti-Apple and super brown necking pro Microsoft....Despite all this, my bringing in my 24" iMac to work and then back home at the end of the day got lots of attention. Both good and bad.

    ...



    That is badass, dude. How do you keep doing that? I need to bring a 20" Apple Cinema Display to work and back every other day. I am considering it...!
  • Reply 11 of 16
    sabonsabon Posts: 134member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post


    That is badass, dude. How do you keep doing that? I need to bring a 20" Apple Cinema Display to work and back every other day. I am considering it...!



    First, I have no financial connection to this company.



    http://www.ilugger.com/ . They make bags for all Macs that are good enough to take on air-planes. I've never done that, but literally have taken it back and forth between home and back and back over 200 times round trip, which is over a year so far.



    People that work around me even ask what's wrong on those infrequent times that I don't bring it into work.
  • Reply 12 of 16
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rickag View Post


    This is going to be tough if they continue with the current desktop product matrix.



    Mini languishing without updates is a capable lower end machine that would work in many applications.

    iMac is an AIO with much built in resistance from IT.

    PowerMac is way over kill for most business computers.



    I think their statement concerning small and mid-sized business is a real afterthought to give the appearance they really do care.



    Enterprise will take a major overhaul of how they handle business and I doubt they can make any real headway for the foreseeable future. Maybe they can buddy up with IBM somehow, but I believe there would be major culture clashes.



    The mini harder to open case and void the Warranty is a big turn off. Business will not like having to ship out a hd to apple to get it fixed.



    also the lack of dual display is other thing.



    apples needs a mid tower to get in to that market.
  • Reply 13 of 16
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sabon View Post


    I work for a govt agency with just over 10,000 people. They are VERY anti-Apple and super brown necking pro Microsoft.



    Well, as Barack Obama is apparently a Mac user, perhaps at least these Agencies in the US will need to be more open minded after Jan 2009!



    A few CIOs should perhaps start thinking!
  • Reply 14 of 16
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sabon View Post


    First, I have no financial connection to this company.



    http://www.ilugger.com/ . They make bags for all Macs that are good enough to take on air-planes. I've never done that, but literally have taken it back and forth between home and back and back over 200 times round trip, which is over a year so far.



    People that work around me even ask what's wrong on those infrequent times that I don't bring it into work.



    Thanks a lot mate. I had briefly heard of this previously. Glad to see it's still around... And they do have a bag for 20" ACD.
  • Reply 15 of 16
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sunbow View Post


    Well, as Barack Obama is apparently a Mac user, perhaps at least these Agencies in the US will need to be more open minded after Jan 2009!



    A few CIOs should perhaps start thinking!



    The US Government should now buy more iMacs, MacBooks and MacBook Pros as part of their investment in Green Energy and policy on Climate Change. <-- This is not as ridiculous as it sounds...
  • Reply 16 of 16
    [QUOTE=Sabon;1338953]



    Despite all this, my bringing in my 24" iMac to work and then back home at the end of the day got lots of attention. Both good and bad.



    --

    Wow Badass hero!.



    I would not do this, my principle is that the company ought to give me the tools to do my work. They provide crap HP laptops/Win2K, they will have to suffer all the inefficiencies, and attitute issues these things bring. The IT group has been "poisoned" by the legacy of MS unfortunately. I have tried many times to suggest choice but it just is not worth the effort.



    I have 5 Macs at home and one lousy PC which is my TVtuner (err PVR too). These will not touch work, if I can help it. It is amazing how companies got suckered into the MS thing with the big IT suppliers like IBM, HP and Dell. Most of the corporate apps at work are plain crap but people just put up with it.
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