There has long been a feeling that Apple products are for the consumer and not the enterprise. The advertising is geared toward how the products can help people improve their personal lives and not necessarily ease their workload. There are even quotes from former CEO Steve Jobs that show he was not a fan of dealing with CIOs and prefer
Despite this, the company has been creating solutions that are specially designed for larger enterprises. A recent CITEworld article highlighted the push Apple has made into the business world. This can be traced back to 1999, when the company created the Mac OS X Server 1.0. That platform is still being updated today with features like NetBoot, Open Directory, server virtualization and shared calendars and contacts.
The company even introduced a training and certification program to help IT departments that adopted Apple products to optimize them. Over the last few years, iPhones and iPads have also brought into the fold.
"The ultimate story about Apple in the enterprise isn't that the company doesn't understand or is choosing to ignore enterprise IT," the article reads. "Apple has simply learned that it's better off making high-end products with enterprise potential that appeal to users more than IT — and that it can rely on partner companies to fill in any gaps."
For companies that want to uses Apple products to run their business, a smart move is to turn toward an IT consulting company that can manage a Mac integration.
