Usually I ignore the daily LinkedIn updates in my inbox informing me of the goings on of people who may know people that were once in the same state as a guy I sat next to in Burger King 1o years ago. Wow, that whole 6 degrees of separation thing must be true...
So one of those strangers in my inbox was recommending a
link to a story on Business Insider talking about the increase of Macs in the
workplace. The cliff notes version goes
something like; Rich professional people are really creative and like Macs more
than PC's and because of it they want to use them at work.
I've actually seen evidence of this in action at my last
employer. The entire organization was
run on PC platforms but there were a few Macs floating around as well as some
Mac "servers" Which were glorified 1U server chassis' running Snow
Leopard. AKA, not a server.
True to the assertion of the article, our Mac users were in
the executive suites and generally didn't want to do more than get their email
and browse the web. Anything else
required running terminal server sessions a la' Parallels just to edit a word document.
I remember on my first day I got called to the office of the
regional manager whose only complaint was that the terminal server session and
desktop wasn't like his Mac desktop. Great
first impression I made that day.
By the time I came along the Mac users already accepted the
fact that we could never be a pure Mac shop mostly because everyone else had to
do lots of boring uncreative stuff that didn't work on Macs.
I've written other articles about Macs in business
environment so I won't belabor the point here.
Suffice it to say that as long as Apple treats all their products as consumer devices (even if it says
"pro" on it) with no regard for business process, there will always be resistance by IT
departments. In this case, resistance is
not futile because the bottom line is that Macs don't play well with most
enterprise networks and applications.
This isn't meant to be derisive it's a simple statement of
fact. Remember that the sandbox that is
Apple rejects conformity. 99% of
enterprise networks are running non-Apple hardware and operating systems. They conform to the evil IBM model because
they have to, there isn't a good alternative.
Linux is still somewhere around the level of Windows 98 for the desktop
and Macs have to use Microsoft office because they still don't have a good
productivity suite.
If you live in a sandbox, sometimes you gotta order out...
I'm sure the Mac enthusiast is thinking, "Well, the
enterprise needs to change then"
Yes, maybe it does but right now it hasn't and honestly it can't. As long as the bulk of corporate America
doesn't produce anything more creative than a suggestive photo at the Christmas
party nothing will change.
Until corporate America finally decides to drop its 19th
century labor model and realize that people don't have to be under your nose to
be productive, nothing can change.
Journalists, consultants and others not dependent on a corporate cubicle
have figured out how to excel without the chains of corporate IT conformity.
Mac's by their very design are non-conformist. From the ambivalence of the file system
organization to its lack of support for common enterprise applications Macs are
meant to accommodate the user not vice versa.
That's the way Steve Jobs wanted it so don't expect it to change.
With the advent of cloud services, Google docs and online
meeting options , it's possible that someday we may not have to waste years of
our lives in pointless commutes to some dreary office building. This is where Macs can become a viable
option. To make a Mac work for business
you have to get it out of the office and give it an Icloud account.
Apple is all about creativity and connectivity. Everything from the sandbox is meant to work
with everything else with an Apple logo.
Online experiences are supposed to be ABOUT the content not the process
of getting TO the content.
Enterprise IT doesn't work that way. Enterprise IT has to control all the channels
if for no other reason than to protect its information assets. It's not about WANTING to control everything
it's about HAVING to. IT departments
don't have a choice in the matter. If
given the choice without repercussion most IT guys would let the free for all
happen if for no other reason than to be hated a little less.
But we all know the corporate network would be in flames in
20 minutes. It's human nature to be
freeform which flies in the face of any IT organization trying to secure and
provide reliable resources.
So it is, so shall it be.
Macs are to Enterprise as Smartphone is to Blackberry.
Similar function, different methodology.
There's nothing wrong with using a Mac if it fits your style
of work but it's very design is guided by the premise to NOT be like a PC. That's why they never seem to fit well into
enterprise IT architectures.
I'm not anti-Apple, I just know it doesn't work well in the
prevailing IT construct.
If the world decides to throw away the construct and do it
Apples way, however, then it's conceivable that Apple could become a catalyst
for finally abandoning an outdated work methodology that says work only happens
in an office.
Article first published as Are Macs Invading the Enterprise? on Technorati.
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