Macs’ Superior Enterprise Deployment Cost Economy No Surprise To Mac Veterans – The ‘Book Mystique

IBM’s debunking of conventional wisdom and popular mythology about the relative cost of using Apple Mac computers as opposed to PCs running Microsoft Windows at the sixth annual Jamf Nation User Conference (JNUC) in Minneapolis, Minnesota was no shock to Mac veterans. A Mac user for a quarter century now, I concluded long since that Macs in general offered better value and lower total cost of ownership (TCO) over the long haul than Windows machines despite often significantly higher up-front purchase cost, as well as a much more gratifying user experience with the macOS and far less maintenance attention and aggravation.

Macs have typically provided solid, low-hassle, pleasant-to-use OS software performance, the hardware has (with occasional exceptions) offered superior engineering, top-tier materials, and better build quality than typical Windows PC hardware, and last like the proverbial anvil, more often than not being retired at an advanced age due to obsolescence rather than hardware failure. I have two operational 16-year-old Pismo PowerBooks that still get some use for utility tasks.

Other Mac vets are making similar observations. The Mac Observer’s John Martell recalls:

“I remember, back in the 1990s, those of us in the workplace who proselytized Macs pointed out that Macs were easier and less expensive to operate. That counsel usually fell on deaf ears because IT mangers were invested in PCs and Windows for reasons that outweighed long term cost savings. To get their way, they argued that Macs were too expensive initially. That was a cost that was in the face of signature authority and hard to brush under the rug. In contrast, ongoing maintenance costs were a bigger, more muddled pie and easier to justify.”

I’ll concede that some of my personal Mac TCO and user satisfaction/value equation has been subjective preference and a low tolerance for messing around with computers as opposed to using them. However, at the JNUC meeting, IBM’s VP of Workplace as a Service Fletcher Previn presented hard, empirically-derived data showing that that not only do Windows PCs demand twice the amount of IT support attention, they’re also three times more expensive to use overall.

Jamf blogger Jeni Asaba cites Previn noting that IBM is saving from $273 – $543 per Mac deployed as opposed to a Windws PC, over a four-year service lifespan, explaining that last year when IBM decided to let their employees choose which platform they want to use for their work machines — Windows or Mac — the Mac quickly emerged as the favorite, resulting in deployment of 30,000 Macs over the initial year. That metric has continued to grow, with Previn reporting that with 73 percent of IBM employees say they want their next computer to be a Mac, and the company now having. 90,000 Macs deployed (and only five system admins supporting them) — the largest Mac deployment on earth.

As for popular mythology that enterprise deployments of Macs in the Windows-dominated business sector results come at higher cost and IT support headaches, Previn is cited revealing that IBM found that not only do PCs drive require twice the amount of IT support attention, they’re also three times more expensive to buy and maintain, with, depending on the model, IBM saving between $273 – $543 per Mac compared to a PC, over a four-year service lifespan, Previn adding: “And this reflects the best pricing we’ve ever gotten from Microsoft.” Based on the 100,000-plus Macs IBM expects to have deployed by the end of 2016, savings derived from switching to Macs from Windows PCs amount to some serious money.

Jeni Asaba explains:

“To help maintain the demand for Macs in the workplace, and the 1,300 new Macs deployed each week, IBM adopted Jamf to leverage Apple’s Device Enrolment Program (DEP) for zero-touch deployment, which is critical given 40% of their workforce is remote. Employees receive a consumer experience from the moment they receive their Mac, which continues with a Workstation Asset Management Tool and a re-designed intranet, providing employees with an Apple-like, self-help experience. Not only do these additions drive self-sufficiency among employees, but they also help create confidence with the product.”

According to Previn, IBM has seen a drastic increase in their employee engagement scores year over year with the company’s massive Mac deployment.

So it would appear that by largely ignoring the enterprise market in promoting the Mac, Apple has been bypassing a great deal of potential for Mac sales. Indeed, given the lack of attention Apple has given the Mac over the past several years, one might conclude by inference and evidence that Apple has lost interest in the Mac in favor of the iOS platform. The most recent all-new Mac offering is the 12-inch MacBook with Retina display, and it’s halfway through its second year of production. The current 15-inch MacBook Pros date back to 2012.

That’s about to change, and we should have a better idea of where Apple is headed with the Mac after Apple’s October 27 “Hello Again” special event, which is rumored to be a mostly MacBook affair with all-new MacBook Pros and either an upsized 13-inch model of the 12-inch MacBook or a 13-inch MacBook Air with a processor upgrade and USB-C ports, or perhaps both of the latter. Personally I would love to see an updated MacBook Air.

According to respected Apple-watcher KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, in a new note to investors released late last week predicts that either Apple or a third-party supplier may introduce a hybrid USB-C connector with the hardware-preserving magnetic quick-release characteristics of Apple’s MagSafe connectors. A rumored OLED touch bar strip replacing the traditional function keys and Touch ID sensor sounds like an interesting trial balloon for a full capacitive adaptable and programmable keyboard.

like the 12-inch MacBook with its compromised keyboard. Unfortunately it’s being widely rumored that the new MacBook Pros will have the misbegotten “butterfly mechanism” keyboard Apple introduced last year in the 12-inch MacBook that defeats it as a serious production tool. If that be the case, let’s hope Apple has been mindful of the chorus of boos the MacBook keyboard has elicited and done some re-engineering. HP has demonstrated with its ultrathin 13-inch Spectre that keyboard excellence is not incompatible with thin laptop form factors.

Hopefully, with the new MacBook Pros Apple will have focused primarily on offering real professional grade laptop performance to accommodate the needs of enterprise customers and other serious productivity oriented users with decent battery life, ample I/O ports and, a comfortable keyboard, and not just another demonstration of cool-looking but compromised ultra thin form factor design.

Late breaking: MacRumors was first to report that Apple leaked an image of the new MacBook Pro in the macOS Sierra 10.12.1 update released Monday. It appears that the “Magic Toolbar OLED strip is a go, and unfortunately the butterfly keyboard as well. You can check it out at: http://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/25/images-of-new-macbook-pro-leaked/

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