Apple Not Interested In Enterprise Market?

Is there a grass-roots enterprise IT interest in Apple? NetworkWorld seems to think so and outlines a few key reasons why Apple could get traction in the enterprise. Among the reasons:

* Apple is powered by Intel now.
* Switching to OS X isn't any more difficult than moving to Vista.
* And networking is easier on today's Macs compared to previous versions.

It all sounds perfectly logical. In fact, I've pondered how Apple could pierce the enterprise market before.

The catch? Apple just doesn't care about the enterprise unless it's narrowly defined as companies creating content–movies, publishing etc. NetworkWorld notes that Apple doesn't have a dedicated enterprise unit.

Why? Here's a theory. The enterprise market is crowded and a bit staid. Let's assume Apple gets into the enterprise market. Steve Jobs takes the stage at Macworld and says "here's our latest Xserve (above)!" The reaction would be silence.

There's just no interest. The iPhone is much sexier and makes Apple's lack of focus on the enterprise clear.

However, there are IT managers out there that would consider the Apple platform if only Jobs & Co. showed a smidge of interest. Maybe Apple should at least seed a grass-roots enterprise movement.

Comments

[Malkiel:]

I can't blame Apple for being a little disinterested in this--the type of service, licensing, and network software detail involved in serving the enterprise market is what Microsoft does best and it would be a huge effort for Apple to take on the staff and make the corporate changes needed to compete there. Also, the corporate and institutional buyers have very conservative tastes and Apple might have to make too many changes to their style of software and hardware to suit them.

On the other hand, Apple has a chance to make some inroads into the home user market, where the only investment they'll need to make is advertising and perhaps allowances for higher production levels. In any event, it would be a mistake for them to do nothing to enhance their market share in this golden moment of public dissatisfaction with Microsoft.

2007 Feb 28 12:23 PM

[Dan Poarch:]

Well... Where is the growth? Are most corporations going to double their investment in IT over the next two years? Probably not. But what about consumers?

There's a lot of digital media being consumed out there and someone had better start writing real apps to deal with it. iLife & Windows Media Sucker won't cut it. Perhaps Apple has something up their sleeve. Perhaps they don't have anything revolutionary in store, but are confident that their strategy is better and more in line with consumers needs and habits. Home media management is very much the domain of hobbyists at the moment but it's going to be a big deal very soon. Someone needs to adapt Moore's law to personal media consumption.

"The Enterprise" is a weird and finicky place. I hear corporate IT managers talk about how Apple isn't ready for the Enterprise, but then they come to me with huge grins talking about how easy Macs are to deploy and maintain. I've never understood the "Enterprise" mentality. I wouldn't touch it if I were Apple.

Besides, do you really want to be better at Peoplesoft, SAP, and MS Office than everyone else? Ooh. Ahh.

2007 Feb 28 04:56 PM