Dive Brief:
- Apple hardware may cost more than Windows PC hardware, but some enterprises are finding the support costs of Apple products much lower.
- IBM said only 5% of its Apple user base calls the support desk, while 40% of the company’s Windows users call the company's help desks.
- The reduced support needs of Apple products can mean a big difference in both resources and costs for a company.
Dive Insight:
Last year, Apple struck a partnership with IBM to jointly create apps for the workplace, while IBM employees help sell and support Apple devices with corporate clients.
A year later, Fletcher Previn, VP of Workplace-as-a-Service at IBM said "every Mac that we buy is making and saving IBM money."
Previn said 1,900 Macs are now deployed per week at the company. In all, IBM supports a total of 130,000 Macs and iOS devices with just 24 support staff. At that rate, IBM said it could have a single IT support person for every 5,400 deployed Apple devices. Gartner says a good ratio for the average enterprise is one support person for every 70 employees.
