Apple moves into business sector

Big push for Macs to enter the business environment...

Apple may have enjoyed unprecedented success in the consumer market of late, but the company is now broadening its scope by looking to increase market share in the business sector.

The user-friendliness and functionality of Apple’s products have made them hugely popular in the consumer space. The company’s most recent high-profile launch, the iPad, sold 300,000 units in its first day of release in the US. The iPhone too has proven to be the most popular smartphone in the world and is now creeping into the workplace, as businesses begin to rely on the handset to maintain communication between employees and the company.

Now, broadband provider TalkTalk has revealed that it is trialling the use of Apple computers in its offices and CIO David Cooper, who is overseeing the project, told Computing exactly why.

Apple Macs have not traditionally been common in business organisations. Only educational institutions and selected departments in graphics and publishing companies have opted to use Apple over PCs. However, that could all be set to change, as Apple has been working with a number of companies with a view to getting its products into a wider spread of business organisations, according to Cooper.

“There is a big push from Apple onto the business side,” he said. “There are companies that have fully switched to using Apple computers in the workplace or are giving the choice to their users.”

Cooper’s sentiments are echoed by Apple’s logistics and supply chain management partner Syncreon, which delivers all Apple products exclusively in the UK and 80 per cent of products to Europe, according to IT director Niall O’Mahoney.

He told Computing that employees are now using Apple MacBooks in Syncreon’s offices as well, and Apple’s presence in the business sector is set to grow.

“They’re not straitjacketed anymore; in the past we always bought Dell and everyone had a Dell laptop and that’s now changed. It is a cultural thing.

“We’ve actually set up virtual area networks in our own organisation just for Macs and Apple products run on Intel processors, meaning they've come into the mainstream."

O’Mahoney said that in terms of volumes, Apple’s business has doubled every year over the past four years, and is projected to do so again. This year, the growth is expected to be contributed to by businesses to a larger extent than ever before.

TalkTalk’s Cooper explained that the company’s own ambitions to begin using Apple computers in the workplace were borne by the company’s chairman and founder Charles Dunstone.

“He has been a fan of Apple for a number of years and he wanted to see how we could use their technology in the workplace,” explained Cooper.

“Now we have the challenge of integrating the technology within our own legacy infrastructure,” he said. “That’s why we’re having this trial of a few hundred Macs; to iron out the teething troubles that are associated with the introduction of any new technology.”

Cooper admitted that it is not viable to introduce Apple Macs in every corner of an organisation. Within certain functions of a business that don’t interact with the back-end IT infrastructure, such as in TalkTalk’s call centres, he conceded that PCs will continue to be used. However, he advised other CIOs to leave the decision about whether to use PCs or Macs to the individual user.

“The key is to give people the choice. If the technology works well with you, you’ll be more efficient. If it doesn’t, then you won’t – there is a clear idea to give users the choice.”

However, while TalkTalk and Apple both clearly feel that businesses are ready to begin relying on its Macs in the workplace, research analyst Gartner still has reservations.

The firm recently told us that Apple will require additional investment and focus into the business market before end users really begin to take to its technology.

“Apple doesn’t go for enterprises and is weak in terms of support for business customers. It has limited presence, support and even product offerings for business users,” said Isabelle Durand, principal analyst at Gartner.

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She explained that as enterprises begin to introduce Apple products in the workplace, they are committing to a long-term relationship, and Apple will have to step up its offering and support to its business customers.

“They will need to take into account the replacement cycle and upgrades for business users. Soon, they will also need to introduce a specific product for the small and medium business segment too, because they have nothing for that segment and the MacBook Pro is too high-end for these sorts of businesses.”

Written by 

Dawinderpal Sahota

Computing