It’s been clear for some time that the iPad has taken the enterprise by storm as employees tote it to work and companies buy fleets of them.
But Apple’s PC, the Mac, has never been as dominant in the workplace, until now, according to new research from long-time Microsoft rival, VMware.
VMware queried 376 IT professionals and found that they are increasingly being asked to buy and/or support Macs in the enterprise by employees who want Macs, not Windows machines.
“Microsoft Windows has dominated enterprise desktops for close to three decades but it appears its reign is coming to an end. As BYOPC [“Bring Your Own PC”] and BYOD [Bring Your Own Device] continue to transform the enterprise, Macs have become a popular and preferred option compared to Windows PCs,” says Erik Frieberg, VP of Marketing, End-User Computing, VMware, in the report.
That is clearly hyperbole (and we’ll show you why in a minute), but VMware’s research does jibe with other stats that show Macs are finally making significant inroads in the lucrative enterprise market.
First, let’s add the grains of salt: This survey was a mere 376 people, hardly big enough to showcase the whole world of corporate PC use. It was commissioned by a company that is trying to sell software that competes with Microsoft. VMware wants companies to buy what’s known as “virtual desktops,” where users download Windows and Windows apps over the network on any device they want, such as a Mac. They would do this instead of buying new Windows PCs.
That said, VMware uncovered some interesting nuggets.
Employees are asking for Macs, not just iPads
73% of respondents said they are supporting Macs because users are asking for them. Only 40% said they are using them to run applications that only run on the Mac.
They are doing this even though managing a bunch of Macs is harder for many of them than managing a bunch of Windows PCs. Almost 40% said that Macs are harder for IT to deal with than Windows.
This jibes with a similar study of 300 IT professionals commissioned by Jamf Software, which makes its living by helping IT professionals manage Apple devices. It found that nine out of 10 companies officially support Apple products particularly iPhones (91%) and iPads (89%), with more than half — For more information read the original article here.
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