The latest Jamf data shows huge growth for Apple in the enterprise, where 91 percent of organizations are now using Mac and a phenomenal 99 percent are on iPad and iPhone.
The new Microsoft?
This is just some of the data to be found in Jamf's Annual Apple Trends Survey.
The information is collected from 300 IT professionals across enterprises with 50-10,000+ employees. A glance through the numbers provides a snapshot of a highly significant moment in Apple history, as the non-enterprise company becomes enterprise critical:
- 44 percent of organizations offer employees a choice of Mac or PC
- 71 percent offer a choice of mobile platforms
These outcomes are ironic to the extent that while Android devices have the mass market and Microsoft seeps into the infrastructure, Apple now dominates high end consumer and enterprise markets.
So, why are enterprises opting for Apple?
Jamf points out that the most popular reasons people gave include:
- Ease of Deployment
- Security
- Device Configuration
- Support
- Software/App Development
- Integration
Security on Apple’s platforms remains one of the company’s biggest advantages:
Of those surveyed, 66 percent said it’s as easy or easier to maintain a secure environment on the Mac versus a PC, with 90 percent agreeing it’s easier to secure Apple devices compared to mobile devices on other operating systems.
Low cost, big argument
That’s on top of a changing workforce: Today’s employees are used to using Apple products and will choose them when given the chance.
Millennials want the tools they use at work to be at least as good as those they employ in their personal life, and smart BYOD-savvy enterprises want to unleash the productivity bonus that comes when you give your staff autonomy, flexible working, and the best available digital tools.
IBM famously pointed out that Macs are cheaper to run than PCs last year. The report confirms IBM has now deployed almost 100,000 Macs across the company (the world’s biggest Mac deployment by a single enterprise).
IBM claims to save up to $543 per Mac in comparison to the cost of a PC, which suggests IBM is now spending $54,300,000 less on IT than it did, in terms of device purchase, support, resale and deployment.
According to IBM’s internal survey, 73 percent of employees want a Mac as their next computer when they get a choice. And I guess any smart employer wants their employees to use a Mac, as it’s so much cheaper than the equivalent PC.
These cost savings are borne out in the Jamf survey: 62 percent of the firms responding to the survey claim Macs are easier to deploy, while 89 percent say it is as easy or easier to support Apple’s mobile devices in comparison to other platforms.
(I am certain some dyed in the wool Windows-focused IT support may find as many quibbling reasons as they can to argue against this, but as employers see the costadvantage they will be forced to change).
So, do these figures mean anything?
Jamf says they do, noting that 74 percent of organizations saw an increase in Mac adoption and 76 percent saw more use of iPhones and iPads in 2016 than in 2015.
Apple has been engaged in a big push to enhance its enterprise position. The company has reached deals with IBM, Deloitte, Cisco, SAP, and others.
These deals are enhancing the status of iOS as the mobile industry tool of choice, while also enabling the company to get more Macs into enterprise shops.
“Apple offers the most innovative mobile technology in the world combined with the world’s most advanced mobile OS,” Rowan Trollope, Cisco’s SVP GM of IoT and Applications Group says.
The only question at this point is if the Macs Apple plans to introduce across the next few months will whet this new Mac habit among enterprise users. Take a look at the latest Jamf data here.
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