The Mac in the Gray Flannel Suit

Others are sure to follow suit. Mark Slaga, chief information officer of Dimension Data , a large computer services firm based in suburban Johannesburg, says he has received 25 e-mails recently from employees who want permission to use Macs at work. So far he has refused, because he doesn't want to hire people to provide Mac tech support, but "it'll happen someday," he concedes. "Steve Jobs doesn't need a sales force because he already has one: employees like the ones in my company."
Jobs declined to comment for this story. In the past he has said Apple is better off focusing on the consumer market. He believes it's difficult for any company, including his, to be effective at satisfying both corporate buyers and consumers.

E-MAIL ON IPHONES

Apple's current approach of letting workers lead the charge into the workplace isn't a bad one. The market for PCs sold to businesses was $150 billion last year, and Apple held a measly 2.19% of that, according to market research firm IDC. For every percentage point that the $24 billion company picks up, it gains $1.5 billion in sales on top of its existing growth. Not bad for a company that's not really trying. And the bottom line would benefit as well. If Apple were to gain one point of share in the corporate market this year, that could boost expected earnings for fiscal 2008 by 11.5%, to more than $5 billion.
The iPhone may be Jobs' entrée into corporate offices. It's the one product for which Apple has created an explicit plan for reaching corporations. And it plans to deliver a software upgrade in June that will let the iPhone work with popular corporate e-mail systems such as Microsoft Exchange and allow customers to create their own customized iPhone programs, say, for checking inventory or logging expenses. Apple says more than 160 major corporations are testing the software.
Gartner Group (IT) analyst Ken Dulaney says all the discussion of iPhones is causing tech buyers to ponder whether to bring in Macs as well. At the least, more Macs will be appearing in some companies' research and development labs. That's because the software required to create iPhone applications runs only on Macs. "The iPhone is creating enough interest that people are starting to talk about whether Macs ought to be permitted, both here at Gartner and with our clients," says Dulaney.
Apple is getting help from an unlikely rival: Microsoft. Vista, the latest version of the software giant's Windows operating system, looks like it could turn out to be one of the great missteps in tech history. Not only does it lack compelling new features, but analysts say Vista requires companies to buy more expensive PCs, incur hefty training costs, and to deal with maddening glitches. About 90% of office workers still use its previous operating system, XP. "Microsoft has let this happen," says David B. Yoffie, a Harvard Business School professor and Intel board member. "They've created a huge opening for Apple."

OBSOLETE RIVALRY?

Corporate customers are in open revolt. Microsoft plans to stop PC makers from shipping machines with XP on June 30, but there has been an outcry from customers who don't want to switch to the troubled Vista. "We are being forced to upgrade," says the CIO at one Midwest manufacturer, who could not speak for attribution because of his company's press policies. "There is no business reason to upgrade." Dell has worked out an alternative whereby customers can still get XP, but only if they pay full fare for Vista and then "downgrade" to its less problematic predecessor.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer concedes Vista is still a "work in progress," but he adds that many companies are happy with the new operating system. Mike Nash, corporate vice-president for Windows product marketing, says companies often take years to move to a new operating system and sales are right on track, with more than 140 million copies of Vista sold so far. As for complaints about the software, Nash says Microsoft has an opportunity in getting people to give it a try. "The thing that can best help perceptions is more and more people using Vista," says Nash.
From : http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_19/b4083036428429_page_2.htm