Macs in US business

Apple's exposure in the corporate world is exploding according to a recent survey by Yankee Group Research, finding that Macs reside in one form or another at almost 80-percent of US companies. According to Computerworld, the figure has almost doubled in two years, with 47-percent of corporate IT departments claiming the use of Macs in early 2006. The increase comes mainly from Apple's well-documented reliability, as well as the virtualization capabilities that the Intel migration has opened.

Yankee Group researcher Laura DiDio noted that the feat is most impressive, due to a lack of an official concerted effort to breach the market. "Apple has a beachhead in business. Where it once had just 1-to-2% market share in corporate, now they're up to 8-to-10%," wrote Didio in the findings.

DiDio said that 21-percent of firms reported that they have deployed 50 or more Apple units, quipping that Apple has "graduated to the big league." 28-percent of all businesses polled reported that Windows is run in their offices through a virtual machine, such as Parallels or VMware Fusion, while 22-percent say that they use Boot Camp to dual-boot the systems.

While most businesses are willing to integrate Apple into their networks, Didio notes that few would be willing to switch outright, due to some saying the company's server management software and support programs are not up to the task.

Didio summarizes that Macs are now being accepted into business, rather than "let in" or worked around, presenting corporate customers with a viable choice when it comes to computing hardware.

by MacNN Staff