First off this is not about whether Apple should or should not embrace the enterprise. I have given up on that argument. I think the evidence is pretty clear that they have not, but I would rather not get into that.
John Martellaro, who was a member of Apple's federal team when I was director of federal sales for Apple, wrote a very interesting piece, Apple's Success in the Enterprise Won't be Due to Apple.
John talks about how Apple champions within the enterprise can properly get Apple accepted in the enterprise.
He has some very good points. Based on my over twenty years of selling Apple products to large companies and the government I can say that many times the Apple sales force has had the rug pulled out from under them by over enthusiastic Mac users who have alienated their own IT management.
However, I have to disagree with John on at least one point. Fortunately we know each well enough to disagree and debate the point.
John says the following.
The failure to fully penetrate the enterprise was presented as a deficiency of Apple's.
I am going to tell you that the problem is not with Apple, but rather it is a cultural problem that needs to be solved by the Apple community and Apple enthusiasts in the work force.
I have to say John is half right, because I have seen no new evidence of Apple wanting to do business with the enterprise unless perhaps keeping the same form factors for years is a secret way of getting into the enterprise.
I just do not think Apple can be a successful enterprise company unless that idea is embraced at the highest levels of Apple which would be Steve. In the end large enterprise commitments are based on relationships built between high level executives.
You cannot make any lasting commitment from Apple to another large company without Steve blessing it.
Apple has very few companies where they have built that kind of relationship. That is one reason Apple is not in the enterprise.
Selling to the enterprise in spite of what it might seem like from a distance is very resource intensive.
It is also a long term effort. Just because they buy lots of systems on one purchase order does not mean the decision is taken without a lot of work from both Apple sales people and the new generation of Mac people that John mentions. On that point John and I agree.
Apple is a very resource constrained company for many reasons. One being that is the way that Steve likes it. Another is that Apple commits resources to revenue it can measure. Since Apple sells to the enterprise through their Stores, resellers, special online stores, and direct sales people, it is nearly impossible for Apple to tell what they are selling to the enterprise.
I have helped build the spreadsheets, and I know how hard it is to determine what an enterprise entity does in business with Apple.
A good chunk of the time spent by Apple enterprise people is either documenting what they have sold or forecasting what they might sell.
However, I do know that it is far less business than Apple does selling their iPods. The iPod business has few strings attached.
I also know that the number of enterprise sales people at Apple is so small that it would shock most people.
Enterprise sales people are a lot more expensive than people who work in Apple stores so justifying additional enterprise headcount is very hard.
Certainly Steve has made it abundantly clear that he does not like selling to CIOs. Anyone who has been around Apple will confirm that.
Having said all that, I will agree that it does not matter. I do not think Apple needs a push in the enterprise these days. They are doing fine without it.
Apple will make limited gains in the enterprise if folks take John's advice. I just do not see large gains in enterprise based on Apple current direction.
I would also be a little worried about selling my company on the wisdom of betting their enterprise on Apple.
Apple is going to do what is best for Apple. They don't convene customers and ask them what they think.
Apple produces products and people vote with their wallets. That is the only way Apple hears your opinion.
I think it will take new leadership inside and outside of Apple before we ever see Apple a major player in the enterprise again.
The Vista fiasco would have been a perfect time to make a push, but I believe getting into the enterprise takes more than a great operating system, cool looking products, and even enterprise customers who love the products.
My guess is that most of it is going to be on the web where what hardware you use or what operating system is under the hood isn't nearly as important.
I just have to look at what I am seeing at Box.net, Squidoo, and Google to convince me that the future is going to be highly influenced by the web, and I am not sure Apple has wired itself into the larger web as well as it could.
On other notes, the cold weather that hit part of the country grazed us a little down here on the Carolina coast, but cold clear weather does make for some great photos even if they bring a little controversy.
Did you see all the enterprise features coming to the iPhone that were announced today?
Posted by: TRS-80 | March 06, 2008 at 05:55 PM