Apple in the Enterprise – The Mac is Back! Well, it Never Really Went Away

I recently caught this InfoWorld article on Macs in the enterprise. The article actually mentions Acronis’ newest offering to provide backup of Macs, but the broader point is about the increasing acceptance of Macs in the workplace. We have been involved in the Mac market (through our acquisition of GroupLogic) for over 10 years. Our ExtremeZ-IP® product is the premiere solution for providing seamless integration for Macs into enterprise server environments. Said more simply, Macs and Windows don’t always play nicely together when it comes to Macs accessing files on corporate file servers; we make all those problems disappear. And there are some very interesting trends happening in the enterprise Mac market.

Traditionally, most of us have thought of Mac usage in the enterprise to be limited to a few customer types: advertising, media and entertainment, graphic design, print publishing, and other creative fields. And let’s not forget education. But this has changed significantly as we are seeing many non-traditional verticals embracing Mac usage.

There are lots of reasons for this trend. First, there has been a thawing of the traditional thinking that Macs shouldn't be used in the enterprise. That notion is melting away as the users are becoming increasingly influential with their IT departments. And the IT departments are listening. You can chalk this up to BYOD, consumerization of IT, or whatever buzz word you want to insert. But the reality is: It is happening. End-users are being allowed to choose the right computing platform for them to do their job. Second - and I think this was initially underappreciated - the halo effect of the iPad and iPhone. As enterprises moved to put plans in place to support iPads and iPhones, I believe it opened many doors for the use of the Mac as well. Apple in the enterprise was becoming real, despite the fact that it was a market that many people believe Apple is not targeting.

And I am sure there are other reasons that people can point to. But look around your office; you may see people already using Macs. I certainly do.

And as these Macs make it into the enterprise they occasionally need some added solutions to really make them zoom. This is where ExtremeZ-IP comes into the picture. ExtremeZ-IP provides true enterprise integration of Mac clients into enterprise server environments, and addresses key issues, including:

• Compatibility: Problems with file corruption, file permissions, application lockups and file names disappear.

• Performance: ExtremeZ-IP consistently provides a higher performing experience than alternative solutions.

• User experience: ExtremeZ-IP ensures Mac users maintain the full range of the Mac experience, such as full-content spotlight search, whereas other solutions result in degraded user functionality.

• Management and security: For the IT organization, management is made easy and security is maintained with integration into Active Directory.

If you get a chance, take a look at ExtremeZ-IP. Or better yet, just download our free trial and take it for a spin yourself. Got questions or comments? Share now.