Mac Enterprise Apps and the Evolution of Open Source
Apple's increasing penetration within the enterprise has created a need for enterprise business applications that run on Macs -- and Apple's presence in business can act as a catalyst for more rapid adoption of open source offerings.
It's no secret that Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) 
has dominated the headlines in computing over the last several years,
earning new devotees through consumer-aimed offerings like the iPod,
iTunes and the iPhone. Whether purposeful or not, gradually or
suddenly, Macs have now roared into the business world, with the
user-friendly, intuitive capabilities that appeal to home users
demonstrating themselves to be very applicable within the enterprise.
Macs also afford freedom and flexibility that's not available with a PC -- the ability to use nearly any operating system, be it OS X, Windows or even Linux. Flexibility and ease of use are driving the adoption of Macs for everyday business uses, resulting in a demand for enterprise-focused capabilities.
Last year, Yankee Group
released survey results that shed light upon this emergence of Macs.
From a Web-based survey of 750 global IT administrators and C-level
executives, the research uncovered that "... nearly four out of five
businesses -- approximately 80 percent -- have Macs and the OS X operating system
installed in their networks."
This trend of Mac adoption in the enterprise results in the need for Mac development and support. Recently, IT staffing company
Veritude
estimated that over 17 percent of companies are now looking for Mac
developers, more than tripling the previous findings of 5 percent.
There exists a growing number of new users who say the main driver for adoption of new enterprise resource planning
(ERP) platforms is the desire to run them on Macs and PCs alike. Some
of these businesses are running solely on Macs; others are adding Mac
systems to blend in with their existing hardware. In either case, there
is no question that Macs are in the enterprise and are beginning to be
expected to do some more serious "business" tasks.
