Post by leunas on Oct 8, 2006 2:28:46 GMT -5
John Martellaro has an article up on Mac News World that tries to shed light on issues that drive Apple's relationships with the business world, Apple's plans to expand, and the issues that could trouble them.
Here are the five issues he identified and a little bit on how it affects Apple's business sales:
Degrees of Freedom - Apple does its best to comply with government regulations, but handle them behind the scenes so that managers and engineers in the company can just focus on work. They have very minimalist and simple policies, but they enforce them strictly.
Because of this, employees feel a degree of freedom and empowerment working for Apple. As to how they interact to other businesses Martellaro says that Apple says this: Here's the product we're selling today, take it or leave it, you'll love it. That doesn't feel so 'free' right?
Partnerships - Face it: Apple is a company that's fun to love. Apple deals with companies that often want to become related (or even a part) of this successful company. That desire to insinuate themselves into Apple's success blurs the rational distinction between fandom and client requirements. Apple is alert to this and often paradoxically distances itself when the customer is just seeking a closer relationship. Don't you want to be "closer" to your clients?
Consistency - Martellaro says that apple is driven by "Return on Investment". Stuff that don't make money are dropped quickly. This of course is in contrast to Microsoft, who seems to have an endless supply of money to spend. Martellaro cautions that though fast money is alluring, and long term, steady commitment is harder to justify, it's harder to walk away from long-term commitments when market conditions change.
Infrastructure - Because of Apple's field sales system every time a business customer needs on-site support, it mostly results in a call to their sales representatives to schedule a visit from apples engineers. The delay is often intolerable because Apple is spread so thin around the country.
Business Software - When Apple approaches a company for business sales, it has to be on a very focused basis. Apple makes it their business to make these products as reliable and capable as any product made by Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Sun Microsystems, or EMC (NYSE: EMC) -- if not more so. But IT managers look at the big picture, and it's abundantly clear that the big picture for a corporation involves Microsoft's business software and legacy PC hardware manufacturers who'll sometimes promise anything to close the deal.
Apple sales people work hard to expand. Apple's enterprise sales are, in fact, growing rapidly. But, according to Martellaro Apple's insistence on the fundamental business rules that provide them certain degrees of freedom they need to flourish, means that Apple is a perpetual puzzle in the eyes of the business world. It seems that Apple goes its own way, responding to the beat of a different drummer, and is unwilling to let corporate customers shackle them.
feeds.feedburner.com/~r/qj/apple/~3/34424041/68663