Parallels today announced results of its commissioned survey of more than 200 IT decision makers about their attitudes toward Macs in the enterprise. The results are telling – almost half of businesses (45 percent) currently offer their employees Macs, and more than nine out of 10 businesses (95 percent) that don’t currently provide Macs would be more likely to offer employees Macs if they had a single central management system for both Windows PCs and Macs.
Macs are in high demand – and respondents who already support Macs shared the top reasons why:
· Eight out of 10 businesses (77 percent) say Macs are more reliable overall than Windows machines
· Seven out of 10 (65 percent) say they are easier to support
· Seven out of 10 (65 percent) say offering Macs would likely help attract employees (a very important factor given the competition for talent)
However, there are also roadblocks in bringing Macs onto corporate networks according to survey respondents:
· Seven out of 10 businesses (70 percent) cite the main reason they don’t allow Macs onto their network is because they lack the expertise to manage them
· Seven out of 10 (68 percent) don’t allow them because they are unable to run Windows apps (and the vast majority of enterprise do have some Windows-only applications)
· Half (53 percent) cite the lack of proper management tools
“This survey reinforces what we already knew: Macs are coming into the enterprise but often are supported only reluctantly and not managed efficiently,” said Parallels President Jack Zubarev, in a statement. “With Parallels Desktop for Mac Enterprise Edition and our Mac management plug-in for Microsoft SCCM, Parallels removes two of the biggest roadblocks to Macs in the enterprise: the ability to run Windows applications on the Mac and giving IT departments a single pane of glass to manage Macs and PCs.”
Parallels Mac Management
Parallels Mac Management for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) extends existing very rich SCCM functionality to Macs, allowing IT department to leverage existing processes and skills to manage Macs. With Parallels Mac Management, IT departments can discover, enroll and manage Macs just as they would with existing PCs, through a single pane of glass. From deploying Mac OS X images to managing virtual machines running in Parallels Desktop for Mac Enterprise Edition, Parallels Mac Management provides the necessary tools for an IT organization to be Mac management experts.
“Microsoft is committed to enabling IT organizations to manage heterogeneous environments, including those that have both PCs and Macs. System Center Configuration Manager is designed for extensibility, and the Parallels Mac Management plug-in was built to help expand and enhance System Center’s management of Macs in enterprise environments. A single team with one set of tools can use the Parallels plug-in and help decrease redundancies and reduce OPEX costs,” said Andrew Conway, Senior Director, Product Marketing, Microsoft, in a statement.
“Managing the Macs coming onto our network was previously a manual process, which led to issues with both compliance and control, in addition to extreme inefficiency. Parallels Mac Management for Microsoft SCCM is great as it allows us to continue to provide users Mac machines, while making it easier to ensure their systems are managed and compliant. It lets our IT department extend our existing infrastructure, processes and skills, without extensive re-training to manage Macs. This gives us more time to work on forward-looking projects that will make our internal systems stronger and faster,” said William Udovich, Client Services Engineer, Loyola University, in a statement.
Parallels also offers assistance programs for IT professionals as they go through the installation and implementation process with Parallels tools. These include a Hosted Test Lab program that lets IT professionals test out the Parallels Mac Management plug-in before they install it in their environment, and a Jumpstart program that comprises the Parallels Mac Management plug-in for up to 100 Macs and 10 hours of assisted installation and configuration support.
Parallels Desktop for Mac Enterprise Edition
Parallels Desktop for Mac Enterprise Edition is the best way to provide Windows applications on Macs for employees. It enables IT department to use their Windows applications stack on Macs, run Windows side-by-side with MacOS and always have their Windows and Mac apps available, online or offline. IT staff can also easily secure and mass manage employees Windows virtual machines through variety of configuration options.
“The Lytro camera is the embodiment of taking a different approach to solving challenges, and our IT department here is no different. Parallels Desktop for Mac Enterprise Edition is a great solution, letting us pre-configure then deploy virtual machines across our business. I also love that you are able to seamlessly blend Windows into a Mac only environment – it saves time, and leads to less headaches for IT,” said Adam Kostrzak, IT Director, Lytro, in a statement.
MacIT 2014
On March 26-27, Parallels will be in San Francisco at MacIT 2014 (a conference held in conjunction with Macworld/iWorld that focuses on deploying Apple in the enterprise) demoing its suite of solutions for managing Macs in enterprise environments. Also, Jack Zubarev, president of Parallels Cross Platform Solutions division, is hosting a session that will offer comparisons of practical solutions for implementing Macs in business environments, testimonials from customers who have gone through the process, and results from the 2014 Macs in IT market study. Please join us on Wednesday, March 26, at 2:40 p.m. (Pacific) for this session.
During MacIT, Parallels is giving away a free e Parallels Mac Management Jumpstart Program, a $3,000 value for the winning company. IT professionals who use SCCM do not have to attend MacIT to win the prize. Details on how to enter and win are available here.
Research Methodology
The survey was commissioned by Parallels, carried out by Redshift Research, and was designed to measure respondents’ attitudes and behaviors about multiple platform environments. The research was conducted in March, 2014 using an email invitation and an online survey. The survey was conducted among 200 IT decision makers or influencers whose work environment is primarily made up of Windows-based PCs. Those who currently provide employees with Macs, or those who are considering doing so qualified for the study.
More info about how Parallels Business Solutions can help you succeed in a mixed Windows and Mac world here.
Source: Parallels
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers "Fred Mertz," "Dan K.," and "Judge Bork" for the heads up.]
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Tagged: Apple, business, corporate, enterprise, IT, Jack Zubarev, Mac, Macintosh, OS X, Parallels, Parallels Desktop for Mac Enterprise Edition, ROI, SMB 
