IBM noted recently that it had seen dramatically lower usage of IT support by those employees who switched from Windows PCs to Macs. Apple has now quantified the cost savings this has generated, noting that the combination of reduced support and increased residual values of Macs meant that IBM saved $270 for every employee who made the switch.
IBM employees are offered the opportunity to swap out their Windows machines for Macs whenever they are due an upgrade. The company has committed to buying 50,000 MacBooks by the end of the year, and Business Insider notes that it has so far deployed 30,000 of them.
IBM is not alone in its enthusiasm for Macs in the enterprise sector, observed Tim Cook during yesterday’s earnings call …
Cook reported that the company now generates $25 billion in enterprise sales, up 40% year-on-year, and said that “everywhere I look [in the enterprise field], I see significant opportunity.”
The deal between Apple and IBM was part of the partnership agreement announced last year that has IBM developing enterprise apps for iOS. Apps developed so far are being rolled out in banking, retail, insurance, financial services, telecommunications, government and airlines. Apple Watch support has also been added to several of the apps.
The video below features IBM’s Fletcher Previn talking about the benefits seen by the switch-to-Mac program.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIe-F_QjG6M]
Photo: clubic.com
