[Fed-Talk] [Resend] For Digest Readers: "User" v. "Consumer" v. "Enterprise
[Fed-Talk] [Resend] For Digest Readers: "User" v. "Consumer" v. "Enterprise
- Subject: [Fed-Talk] [Resend] For Digest Readers: "User" v. "Consumer" v. "Enterprise
- From: "Shawn A. Geddis" <email@hidden>
- Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:05:41 -0500
Since David and several others commented about not being able to read
the digest version, I am resending this for their benefit and everyone
else interested who also receives the Digest version..... If you are
none of the above, just hit delete...
On Dec 29, 2008, at 6:34 PM, David Emery wrote:
Those of us who only get the digests never see any of your
postings. Apparently they're signed (without a separate Plaintext
version) and the listserver doesn't pass them along in the digest:
Message: 4
Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:13:04 -0500
From: "Shawn A. Geddis" <email@hidden>
Subject: [Fed-Talk] "User" v. "Consumer" v. "Enterprise"
dave
--
David Emery, DSCI, supporting PdM FCS (BCT) SW Integration
703 298 3473 (office/cell), 703 272 7496 (fax)
Here is the original message.....
From: "Shawn A. Geddis" <email@hidden>
Date: December 29, 2008 5:13:04 PM EST
To: Fed Talk <email@hidden>
Subject: "User" v. "Consumer" v. "Enterprise"
Amanda brings up some interesting and valid points that I hope to
add some color to. Keep in mind that this is an attempt at
clarifying information and not meant to be confrontational.
On Dec 24, 2008, at 5:06 PM, Amanda Walker wrote:
But every large organization has the experience of Apple being
"tone deaf" to its requirements...
This is where I would like to ask folks to take a new look and new
position when working with Apple if you are an Enterprise Customer.
Back in 1997/98 when Steve came back and Apple was rebuilding, the
focus was squarely on eliminating the unnecessary / unproductive
Projects / Teams / etc. to tighten up the company and get back on
track. As the company continues to grow both physically in size and
through maturity of existing and new products, the scope and focus
has broadened slightly, but is still always focused on the "User"
and the Experience.
Any large focused company must listen to its users, but cannot (and
in some cases should not) implement every feature requested.
Vendors must ensure that their products truly mature and drive
towards an integrated solution. It is easy, but negligent in my
opinion, to just add every request as yet another switch or nob
within the interface -- you get bloat and out-of-control products.
Taking the necessary time to hear/discuss all the external input
(such as the folks on this list), tracking and leveraging emerging
technologies, overlaying with internal feature plans and refinement
for simplicity for the "User" is indeed integral to the critical path.
It may not be fair for folks to consider Apple "Tone Deaf" simply
because a specific feature or capability is not there right now
directly from Apple. That is where there are business opportunities
from third-party developers. As is the case with Windows, not every
service/application that is used by everyone on Windows comes from
Microsoft. There always has and always will be an opportunity for
third-party developers to provide solutions that do not come
directly from any of the OS vendors.
This is not limited to just federal/military--it's also true for
higher ed (where I worked long ago) and private sector (where I
work now). It's not just Mac OS X features--it's true for
everything from ordering Macs to IT operations to the iPhone.
The Apple Enterprise Sales Division is there to provide you with
many ways to purchase your products - direct (Acct Mgr / Online
Sales), resellers, etc.. If the process for purchasing is not
working for you and others, please ensure your Sales Team knows
about that and they will work with you. There are many ways to
purchase the iPhone for businesses and many organizations have
contracts directly with AT&T on which they buy the iPhone.
Otherwise, you can go to:
https://www.wireless.att.com/business/iphone/
Apple is fundamentally a consumer product vendor. It sells to
individuals, and it builds products for individuals and small
workgroups.
I am sure some will disagree with me, but let me try to articulate
this slightly different ....
Apple has always been "User Focused" which folks immediately
correlate to "consumer". Some "Enterprise" products are "IT ONLY
Focused" and pretty much forget about the user experience - Users
are frequently not even considered. Much to the surprise of many
folks in IT, IT should not exist for the purpose of IT, but rather
for the purpose of the "User".
The Apple Enterprise Sales Division sells to the Enterprise and not
to individuals. Try not to confuse the Enterprise Sales Division
with the Apple Retail Division or the Online Store.
Its marketing is completely consumer-driven.
TV / Print Marketing is focused on simple concepts easily
communicated in that type of media - (i.e. 30-second commercial).
Web-based Marketing and Field Marketing is clearly focused on the
specific customer.
If you haven't checked things out in a while, go to the top level at:
http://www.apple.com/business/
Or specifically, IT Solutions at:
http://www.apple.com/business/solutions/it/
As it happens, these same products do work very well in enterprise
environments, and Apple has built some capabilities into Mac OS X
and the iPhone in order to keep them from being rejected outright
by enterprise customers (Smart Card support for the DoD, Kerberized
NFS for customers like Google, Exchange connectivity in the iPhone
for most enterprise email systems, XServe LOM so it would be usable
in a data center, etc.), but at a strategic and management level,
enterprise customers are consistently treated as a secondary market.
I would check Apple's 10-K Report (5-nov-2008)
http://biz.yahoo.com/e/081105/aapl10-k.html
Executive Overview
The Company designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers,
portable digital music players, and mobile communication devices
and sells a variety of related software, services, peripherals, and
networking solutions. The Company's products and services include
the Mac line of desktop and portable computers, the iPod line of
portable digital music players, iPhone, Apple TV, Xserve, a
portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the
Mac OS X operating system, third-party digital content through the
iTunes Store, and a variety of accessory, service and support
offerings. The Company sells its products worldwide through its
online stores, its retail stores, its direct sales force, and third-
party wholesalers, retailers, and value-added resellers. In
addition, the Company sells a variety of third-party Mac, iPod and
iPhone compatible products, including application software,
printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and various other
accessories and peripherals through its online and retail stores.
The Company sells to consumer, small and mid-sized business
("SMB"), education, enterprise, government, and creative markets.
Table of Contents
The Company is focused on providing innovative products and
solutions to consumer, SMB, education, enterprise, government and
creative customers that greatly enhance their evolving digital
lifestyles. The Company is the only participant in the personal
computer and consumer electronics industries that controls the
design and development of the entire personal computer, including
the hardware, operating system, and sophisticated software
applications, as well as the design and development of portable
digital music players, mobile communication devices, and a variety
of products and solutions for obtaining and enjoying digital
content. The Company is therefore uniquely positioned to offer
superior and well-integrated digital lifestyle products and
solutions, which are further enhanced by the Company's emphasis on
ease-of-use and creative industrial designs.
I often get the impression that if some new consumer feature made
it impossible to use a Mac in an enterprise setting, Steve Jobs
wouldn't lose a single moments' sleep over it.
There are a wide range of HW / SW features required / requested by
Enterprise Organizations which contradict each other. There,
unfortunately, is not a single voice or single concise list of
features that covers every Enterprise Organization's needs -
especially as technology and Infrastructure landscape rapidly changes.
If there is a feature or capability lacking that prevents the use of
Apple products within the Enterprise, that would be our
responsibility within the Apple Enterprise Division to identify,
qualify and drive resolution. That is not a CEOs personal
responsibility in any organization, but rather the appropriate
groups within that organization.
Even for those of us who bleed six colors (which tells you how old
some of us are :-)), it gets aggravating sometimes.
We can all work together to address aggravations in the process, but
need to clearly identify and actively work to address those areas
which need work. Results will not change if the same process is
attempted over and over.
The benefit of running a Mac shop do usually outweigh the
migraines that trying to run a Windows shop produces, to be
sure :-). But the central criticism Boyd raised, that Apple as a
company often doesn't seem to "get it" when it comes to enterprise
and government IT requirements, is valid more often than not.
I would ask that folks mentally separate the Retail / Education /
SMB from the *Enterprise* Division within Apple. Each division
clearly strives to ensure that their customer base is properly
reached, provided for and supported. If you are an Enterprise
customer not getting proper treatment from the Enterprise Division
at Apple, then you need to ensure that your Apple Enterprise Sales /
Support contacts know and understand that -- without feeling like
the other divisions within the corporation don't understand your
needs. That would be issues our division needs to fix, not their
division.
- Shawn
_____________________________________________________
Shawn Geddis - Security Consulting Engineer - Apple Enterprise
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