Beachballin’

Irony…

So here’s irony for you.

Apple’s been making inroads in homes, huge inroads in schools, and some inroads in business - but not in the ‘enterprise’. Why? It’s almost as though Apple is ignoring enterprise customers entirely. They have features that make it easier to manage larger amounts of Macs, but it’s still not a done deal. It’s as though they’ve only been making a token effort, ignoring the realities that businesses face. For example, OS X works well with ActiveDirectory, but not with Exchange support - unless you buy Entourage, which isn’t a very good program at all, to be honest. Now, however, with Microsoft’s help, Apple is poised to replace Windows on the desktop in large corporations as well, cutting Microsoft’s revenue stream off at the knees.

In 2007, Apple introduced the iPhone, at the time the most lusted-after mobile gadget ever. Consumers love it, but people in the enterprise have a list of features that make it unsuitable for their use.

1. No VPN support
2. No Exchange support
3. No push e-mail (except through Yahoo, wtf)
4. No ‘remote wipe’ support

These are all perfectly valid criticisms, and apparently Apple agreed. In version 2.0 of the software, in addition to adding 3G networking to the iPhone, Apple added Exchange ActiveSync support, as well as Cisco VPN support. Everyone’s eyes widen - it’s as though Apple took the most common enterprise complaints, and turned them into a features checklist. Licensing and integrating ActiveSync for the iPhone solved most of the problems - providing an even better solution than the Blackberry does (which requires the ‘Blackberry Enterprise Server’ add-on for Exchange to accomplish the same thing).

Now we’re hearing that Apple’s built-in applications - Address Book, Mail, and iCal - are getting the treatment. That’s right - full Exchange support in the built-in apps. In addition to being a better operating system, you will now be able to buy a Macintosh running Snow Leopard (or upgrade one you have) and interact with your company’s e-mail system without having to drop cash on a copy of Office.

Office 2007 Standard for Windows (the version with Outlook 2007) is $399. So, four hundred dollars. That bridges the gap between the bottom-barrel Dell or Thinkpad and the Macbook. It even envelops the $80 that iWork costs. With further refinements to iWork (especially Numbers), they could obviate the need not only for Windows, but for Microsoft Office on Mac as well.

The second irony? My company, which is STRONGLY Mac-Leaning, is looking for a new e-mail and collaboration solution that works with Macs, Windows, and Blackberries. A hosted Exchange solution with Blackberry Enterprise Server will not only do what we want, but provide us a practical, functional, and proven solution that will let us move away from Windows in a quick and effective manner.

Thanks Microsoft!

No comments yet.

Leave a comment