It may not be obvious at this point, but 2021 is arguably the year that Apple actually entered the enterprise market. In the years to come, we will better understand the consequences of this arrival, which has been largely overshadowed by everyone's attention to the pandemic.
Increase market share
Aside from panic, the first shock of the pandemic when it struck in 2020 was putting pressure on anyone who could work from home to do so. Yes, it also revealed huge inequalities that left many people in roles where they were at risk of being exposed to COVID-19 because they couldn't go remotely. But we've seen a massive migration to mobile devices and an acceleration in Mac adoption across the company, driven in part by employee choice.
"In April 2020, 70% of workplaces reported working from home," said Adam Pettit, founder and CEO of Kandji.
The use of Mac notebooks in business has increased by 63%, and more than half (53%) of IT decision makers surveyed say that demand for Apple devices has increased in the last two years. "This increase is much higher for Apple (42%) than for any other device (11%)."
By 2021, this migration had become a trend. IDC claimed that macOS device usage in US businesses was up 23%, while iPhones accounted for 49% of commercial smartphones and iPads made up the majority of tablets used at the site. job.
"The growth in Mac usage among business users, especially for remote employees and given their choice of PC device, is driving more and more businesses to formally adopt tools and strategies for managing macOS, as well as iOS/ iPadOS and tvOS," said Phil Hochmuth, program vice president, Enterprise Mobility and Client Endpoint Management, IDC.
Business spending on devices increased 15,1%. We've also seen vendors, including AWS and Teradici, start offering Macs in the cloud.
Apple's expansion into the business ecosystem
The year also saw the ecosystem of publishers that already offer integration, security, and MDM services for Apple platforms gain visibility and proliferate. Well-known names like Microsoft, IBM, Cisco, SAP, JAMF, and others came to light, as new competition emerged from Addigy, Acronis, Truce, Moysle, and others.
The demand for these services is also increasing rapidly. Apple's main MDM partner, Jamf, recently confirmed that it has now helped organizations deploy around 1 million Macs powered by Apple's first Mac Silicon family of chips.
"It's amazing to see the excitement and momentum generated by the Mac lineup powered by the M1 family of chips among innovative companies, prestigious educational institutions and beyond," said Susan Prescott, Apple's vice president and president of corporate marketing and education.
SAP VP Martin Lang said his teams had "never tested a machine as fast" as the M1 Macs they tested in the fall of 2020. Of course, everyone knows the machine by now. the platform that promises fast performance and feature enhancements to power enterprise computers to battery shutdown.
"Since the launch of the M1, I say that Apple's biggest opportunity to increase its share of the PC market is in business," said Carolina Milanesi, president and senior analyst at Creative Strategies.
“The product has proven to be not only desirable, but also capable of meeting business needs, and moving from a BYOD or backdoor approach to an IT approach will allow Apple to grow its share more quickly. "
Apple Business Essentials
Based on a product once offered by Fleetsmith, which Apple acquired in 2020, Apple Business Essentials anticipates the company reaching out to possibly underserved users.
Primarily aimed at small businesses, the company says this service can be expanded to around 500 devices. Apple argues that its new service should be viewed as an entry point to more comprehensive and enterprise-focused MDM and security solutions from its larger enterprise ecosystem.
Dean Hager, CEO of Jamf, agrees. “These problems had to be resolved,” he said. “This will raise Apple's profile in business. Apple's weakest spot in business has always been for small businesses that just want to get started."
Apple has also become more assertive in its case for business use, commissioning in-depth research to illustrate the full cost of ownership benefits of its platforms.
Accompanied by an updated corporate website explaining the many reasons to switch to a Mac, the case was supported by a Forrester report showing that using the Mac M1 will save companies € 843 out of every three years compared to a PC. .
What is at stake?
Analyst Horace Dediu notes that Apple now has the products, services, and ecosystem to effectively reach around 212 million companies worldwide, of which about 31 million are located in the United States alone.
The proof is there. "I think 10 years ago Windows led the market in market share," Hager said. “Now if you look in the United States, Windows is about 32%. Apple's iOS and macOS together account for more than 40%.
"I don't think you can be a credible enterprise software provider if you're not part of the Apple ecosystem today," says Jeetu Patel, general manager and executive vice president of security and collaboration at Cisco.
However, if there is a flaw in Apple's corporate credentials, it lies in the company's insistence that work start at work, rather than at home. Stay open to whether the next big innovation in business technology could be solutions that live and breathe asynchronous collaboration and work from home.
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Copyright © 2021 IDG Communications, Inc.