Friday, August 12, 2005

Apple and their XServe platform will never be a force on the internet. TCO is too high when compared to Linux if you just need to run Apache, MySQL and Sendmail/Qmail/Postfix. Unless you are running a WebObjects enabled site, why would you host on XServe? If WebObjects doesn’t greatly increase its usage quickly, it will go the way of Lasso.

XServer in the corporate IT department could gain a foothold if Apple can gain ground on the enterprise desktop. As long as enterprise desktops remain dominated by Windows-based PCs, why would corporate IT even think about XServe in the backoffice?

Apple appears to be losing ground in the Government/DOD arena too. If Apple can’t get approved to be on secure DOD networks and can’t properly market a more secure alternative to the status quo, who’s to blame?

It’s a shame this particular enclave of Mac users who are focused on graphics is going to have to give up their Macs and go Windows. Part of their challenge is that Apple has been unable to get certificates for OS X systems to operate on DOD networks, or if they have gotten them, they’re a well kept secret. Of course being Mac users, these users were fighting the loss of their Macs tooth and nail. Just as many of these battles have played out over the years, I suspect these Macs will succumb to the pressure from the IT organization which just won’t be happy until they rid themselves of a second platform.

Apple missed the boat by not making OS X security a key selling point. In fact the first thing that should come to the mind of any computer user when they hear OS X is security. Unfortunately that’s not the case. While MS paid for ads in the Washington Post to talk about their commitment to security, Apple hid in the shadows, afraid to tout their own much more secure operating system.

There is very little Apple business out there that stays Apple year after year without work from someone in spite of what Apple’s sales management team thinks. In the larger customers, sometimes an Apple rep gets involved to help fight the war, but often the users fight their own lonely battle. It’s a rare company that has made the decision to be a Mac shop and never reviews that decision. The financial pressure is just too great and the marketing behind the Mac platform in the enterprise is just too weak especially compared to what hits the IT professionals from the Windows world.

In an earlier post, I discussed the fact that The University of Texas at Austin was once the largest single installation of Apple computers outside of Cupertino. Not having been on a college campus in several years, I haven’t a clue what is actually happening on campuses these days. Mac News World discusses some of Apple’s attempted inroads into the college market.

At the University of Colorado school of dentistry, for instance, students are required to buy Apple PowerBooks that then replace text books and other learning tools. PowerBooks are also a requirement now at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. In many cases, campuses have also adopted Apple’s Airport wireless protocol and switched what were PC-dominant IT systems over to Apple’s standard. At small Laguna College, the entire campus was wired for wireless access and all students offered an Apple notebook discount.

Will it be enough to secure Apple’s future in the enterprise?

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