Are Macs on the cusp of storming the business world?

I am interested in the topic a great deal. Can corporate America change "think different" and allow OSx to coexist with XP?? Your blog gives the impression that Apples Mac growth might be related to sales for business use. What statistics do you have to back this up. Other than the fact that their sales are way up. Could be simply home use.

No, I don't see Apple directly competing for the Enterprise market. Why? Because the barriers are too high.

Apple is competing for the top 25% of the consumer space; it's marketing plan, business model and advertising depends on the idea that consumers and computing professionals prefer innovation, panache, craftsmanship and elegance. And that they will pay a premium for that.

The IT personnel, who influence what the major companies standardize on, want workflow, predictability and an easy learning curve. Even a 25 percent improvement in productivity or a higher percentage in user satisfaction is not enough to entice the IT professionals into a major change to a new OS. The IT professionals say that it will take several years for them to make a decision to move to Microsoft Vista. Given such a hostile environment, it doesn't matter what improvements that Apple makes, because will never matter enough to the IT professionals who act as gatekeepers. And the Enterprise computer users don't get an input into the decision process. Although, increasing numbers of users and executives will be sneaking personally owned Mac's into enterprise networks.

Next, Apple would be playing on Dell's battlefield and lately, even Dell hasn't been that profitable in the Enterprise market. The Enterprise market wants advance warning of model changes so that it can plan its six months to a year purchasing cycle. But, giving the Enterprise market that much warning would spoil Apple's consumer marketing which depends on building consumer lust for its products. Apple would be forced to become as boring as Dell and that would be unpleasant for a showman such as Steve Jobs.

So, what is Apple's Enterprise plan? To convert it into the consumer space by chipping away at the outside. First, we need to recognize that the Enterprise market is changing-- specializing. Why have stand-alone, universal computers do what what very cheap, almost disposable, embedded computers based on Linux can do? The Computer components are increasingly being placed on a single chip. The Megahertz wars are over; even the cheapest chips have sufficient speed. It is time for the computer to become an appliance in the Enterprise market. Cost alone will drive this; it is a way for the companies to unload the high overhead costs of its IT departments. Why would Apple want a piece of that action? Is there a place for Apple to shine here? No.

Next, the nature of the business market is changing; small to medium sized businesses are growing faster than big business. Those SO/HO and SMB users do get an input as to what computer to purchase. If Apple can show that they have all the advantages of the standard PC plus Apple's special advantages of innovation, panache, craftsmanship and elegance, then Apple will gain increasing portions of the business market. Apple can do this best by continuing to sell to the consumer space, so I expect little change here.