45% of businesses offer Macs to employees, 77% find Apple more reliable - survey
A new survey of IT decision makers in the enterprise found that almost half of businesses now offer their workers Macs, while the vast majority feel Apple's Mac platform is more reliable than PCs running Microsoft's Windows.
The new details were released this week by virtualization maker Parallels, which polled more than 200 IT heads about their attitudes towards Macs in the enterprise. The survey found that 45 percent of businesses currently give employees the option of using a Mac at work.
Among those who don't offer Macs, a whopping 95 percent said they would be more likely to do so if they had access to a single central management system for both Windows PCs and Macs.
Apple's Mac lineup also ranked favorably against Windows when IT decision makers were asked about performance and reliability. Among those polled, 77 percent said Macs are more reliable than Windows machines, 65 percent said Macs are easier to support, and 65 percent said offering Macs would likely help attract employees.
Still, Macs are being held back in the enterprise because many decision makers -- 70 percent at those who do not offer Macs -- said they don't have the expertise to manage Apple's devices. And 68 percent of IT heads at Mac-less businesses said they don't allow Apple hardware because they are unable to run Windows applications in OS X.
Apple has steadily been gaining market share in the enterprise, with recent trends suggesting the company could account for 11 percent of the total global business market by 2015. Many believe the strong performance seen by the Mac is being driven by a so-called "halo effect" with the iPhone, as corporations and their workers begin to buy into Apple's ecosystem.
In addition, Apple has also been making strides in security and encryption -- advances that have helped to make both iOS and OS X viable and attractive options for government agencies.
The new details were released this week by virtualization maker Parallels, which polled more than 200 IT heads about their attitudes towards Macs in the enterprise. The survey found that 45 percent of businesses currently give employees the option of using a Mac at work.
Among those who don't offer Macs, a whopping 95 percent said they would be more likely to do so if they had access to a single central management system for both Windows PCs and Macs.
Most IT decision makers agree that Apple's Mac platform is more reliable, easier to support, and would even help attract employees.
Apple's Mac lineup also ranked favorably against Windows when IT decision makers were asked about performance and reliability. Among those polled, 77 percent said Macs are more reliable than Windows machines, 65 percent said Macs are easier to support, and 65 percent said offering Macs would likely help attract employees.
Still, Macs are being held back in the enterprise because many decision makers -- 70 percent at those who do not offer Macs -- said they don't have the expertise to manage Apple's devices. And 68 percent of IT heads at Mac-less businesses said they don't allow Apple hardware because they are unable to run Windows applications in OS X.
Apple has steadily been gaining market share in the enterprise, with recent trends suggesting the company could account for 11 percent of the total global business market by 2015. Many believe the strong performance seen by the Mac is being driven by a so-called "halo effect" with the iPhone, as corporations and their workers begin to buy into Apple's ecosystem.
In addition, Apple has also been making strides in security and encryption -- advances that have helped to make both iOS and OS X viable and attractive options for government agencies.
Comments
As to the 77% part of the survey: duh!
2) I wonder what 45% actually refers to. I doubt it's Macs to any and all 'PC' using employees but rather just to certain employees, like executives, that might request an iMac, MBP, or MBA.
3) The problem that still plagues Macs in the enterprise is lack of robust remote management system that can be administered from a central server. Windows, even ones still on XP, with Windows Server is extremely robust. I hope Apple sees the opportunity here to make Mac OS X great for the enterprise.
"The survey found that 45 percent of businesses currently give employees the option of using a Mac at work"
What is left out of the article is an explanation of the "option of using a Mac at work". Since the survey was by Parallels, it is obvious the companies are using Windows, since 90% of businesses use Windows PCs. So the option is for the employee to use their own Mac running Windows via Parallels or Boot Camp. The vast majority of companies do not buy $1,000 Macs for their employees. Companies prefer $300 bare-bones PCs to run their business because it is all about expenses. Most companies use proprietary software that only runs on Windows, and their business is using Windows Server and Exchange. So don't think 45% of companies are handing out Macs to their employees when they request it, because it is not happening.
Correct me where I am wrong. Someone does a survey and finds the percentage but you just know this for a fact?
Thanks
1) I believe the latest PWN2OWN had someone stating Mac OS X is secure, which is good.
2) I wonder what 45% actually refers to. I doubt it's Macs to any and all 'PC' using employees but rather just to certain employees, like executives, that might request an iMac, MBP, or MBA.
3) The problem that still plagues Macs in the enterprise is lack of robust remote management system that can be administered from a central server. Windows, even ones still on XP, with Windows Server is extremely robust. I hope Apple sees the opportunity here to make Mac OS X great for the enterprise.
I work for a very large company and they offer Macs to all employees. It is employee choice and has nothing to do with what their job is. However, contractors can only get PCs.
Think of all those poor slobs out there with their newly acquired MCSE certificates from the local Sanford Brown vocational college. Oh the humanity!
"Tallest Skill" going "I can take care of the spam. Just say the word, guys" in his sig.
Trollololol, indeed, "Tallest Skill" was a moderator of this board for a while. It probably was the closest to being "employed" he ever came... alas, he even failed in this "job".
And 23% have shit for brains,
"Tallest Skill" going "I can take care of the spam. Just say the word, guys" in his sig.
Trollololol, indeed, "Tallest Skill" was a moderator of this board for a while. It probably was the closest to being "employed" he ever came... alas, he even failed in this "job".
A. If you think he's a troll why are you engaging him, and more so, why are you engaging him before he comments?
B. I don't think he is a troll, and frankly, when he's not busy pointing out ignorance, he offers better commentary and insight than 90% of commentors. Do I think he could be more tactful? Absolutely. But I appreciate substance over tact.
I'm not so much annoyed at your own lack of tact, but I am annoyed at your lack of substance.
As for my comments on the actual article, it's cool to see more openness to OSX in the enterprise. Some in the comments are confusing adoption with acceptability. Just because 45% support, doesn't mean that 45% are using.
Anecdote: my company buys $2k hp laptops and we use Citrix for many things.
History will show that the beginning of Microsoft's downfall in its virtual lock on the Enterprise market began with its multi-year absence in the emerged Phone and Tablet markets. In addition, the MBA, which had design appeal along with light weight, drove the executives of Fortune 2000 companies to DEMAND that IT make it possible for them to use Apple computers at work.
This was an inversion of IT's power to dictate and control what hardware/software would be allowed on their networks. The secondary effect was that management was able to learn how reliable Apple's computers actually are, along with the iPhones and iPads. Will this trend continue? The results of the survey indicate it well may. However the survey didn't show the ground swell of Apple love spilling out of campus IT graduates who have enjoyed their Apple products their whole campus life. Microsoft's absence over the last SEVEN years with sexy answers to the NBA, the iPhone, and the iPad, has done themselves in for a whole generation of graduates.
Microsoft: Dead man walking.
Owww! They know how to brand the contractors as LOOSERS.
I work for a very large company and they offer Macs to all employees. It is employee choice and has nothing to do with what their job is. However, contractors can only get PCs.
Same with my company. I have been using a Mac along with a Thinkpad as far back as 1993.
100% of IT professionals surveyed said they preferred Win 7 or XP to Win 8.
(I just made up that statistic but it sounds about right to me.)
How do they handle Macs logging on to Active Directory? Does the company provide Office for Mac? Aren't there a lot of Windows proprietary files being shared around like Access?
Specifically or in general? In general, it's pretty straightforward albeit doesn't have the same level of support as with Windows.
Microsoft: Dead man walking.
Oh please. Microsoft is the #1 enterprise software company in the world. There is more to enterprise software than the laptops and tablets that sales and HR uses to make their presentations. Microsoft has the #1 business database, the #1 business server, the #1 email server, the #1 directory server, the #1 business communications server, the #1 collaboration server ... you name it. They do have some competition in some of those areas, like Oracle for databases and Sun for directory/email/communications/collaboration servers, but no single company competes with them in every segment of the enterprise market, and in some segments their #2 or #3 competitor is open source products. (And they are the #3 cloud computing company behind Amazon and Google.)
Incidentally, you can integrate OS X and similar into Active Directory. (You can even integrate Linux into Active Directory, as tons of IT infrastructures have both Windows and Linux servers.) It just isn't as easy and the integration isn't as good, but it is very possible. So even if a company went exclusively OS X with their desktops, laptops and tablets, switching to an Apple directory server (assuming Apple ever sees fit to make such a thing) likely wouldn't happen.
Just like Samsung is way more than just their Android tablets and smartphones, Microsoft is way more than just Windows. If anything, Windows is holding Microsoft back. They need to scrap it and start over. They need to come out with a lightweight but excellent Android or FirefoxOS type OS for consumer devices and then something really powerful, high performance, flexible etc. for the business/professional/technical users and gamers, many of whom are switching to Apple and Linux anyway. Incidentally, a lot of business are switching from Windows XP to Linux instead of Windows 7 or Windows 8, especially banks. http://www.ecumenicalnews.com/article/banks-turning-to-linux-to-replace-windows-xp-on-their-atms-22976
The second that a company likes Samsung realizes that a powerful but user-friendly flavor of Linux could be used to sell quality hardware, Windows is dead. (Rumor has it that this is Samsung's actual goal for Tizen. They have already released a 12 inch Android tablet that is clearly meant to compete with Windows laptops for business consumers, and are also making Chromebooks. They merely need to switch from the Google OSes to a better, more powerful one of their own.)
To his credit, I think that Natella realizes this. They just renamed Windows Azure (Microsoft's cloud platform) to Microsoft Azure, and that was clearly his doing.
But it is Windows that is dead, not Microsoft. And were Microsoft to finally emulate what Google did years ago and just come out with their own flavor of Linux already (either to sell it as their next business OS or use it to sell hardware) and use the downloadable app/cloud application driven model to deploy software to it, it would give them a real shot in the arm. (They could do this tomorrow. Or better yet, they could have done it 3 years ago instead of wasting all that time and money embarrassing themselves with Windows 8 and now continuing the failure with Windows 9, which will not sell but will only infuriate everyone who has undergone the expense and difficulty of adopting and defending Windows 8.)
Of course,
Specifically or in general? In general, it's pretty straightforward albeit doesn't have the same level of support as with Windows.
I was pretty sure it could be done I just didn't know how. Looks like quite a few steps to getting it working.
I tried setting that sort of thing several years ago. I could never get working. The article says OS X 10.5+ so maybe that was my problem.
Still seems like an ongoing hassle though. I can tell you for sure our IT manager isn't going offer any help. I just use Windows when I need to connect to the Windows network. Fortunately that isn't very often. My printer has an IP address and Mac/Windows drivers so we print directly to it with Mac or Windows machines. Every once in a while I'll manually sync up our files from their Windows server and copy them on to my Linux server using SMB. Mostly just some ISO documentation records.