Uh Oh…
Bert is not going to like this article…
At the end it talks about Apple working with Ikea on augmented reality - kinda
like Boeing using AR with iPads to enhance manufacturing processes. In this
case, it will involve showing what Ikea's products will look like in your home.
This is kinda funny, given the years it can take to take something from concept
to product. When we wrote the Task Force Report on Digital Image Architecture
in 1992, one of the main contributors was Gary Demos of DemoGrafx. He was
working with Mike Leibhold Director of Apple’s Advanced Technology Lab - Mike
asked me to participate in the Task Force, and set up my first e-mail account
through Apple's in house Applelink network. Gary showed me some work he had
been doing with texture mapping, showing pieces of furniture with various
fabrics…
It’s only taken about 25 years to reach consumers...
Regards
Craig
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3202304/apple-ios/apple-is-the-top-it-vendor-says-gartner.html?idg_eid=0470c2f043cb4d017046d12ee84ea1af&email_SHA1_lc=&cid=cw_nlt_computerworld_enterprise_apps_2017-06-20&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Computerworld%20Enterprise%20Apps%202017-06-20&utm_term=computerworld_enterprise_apps
<http://www.computerworld.com/article/3202304/apple-ios/apple-is-the-top-it-vendor-says-gartner.html?idg_eid=0470c2f043cb4d017046d12ee84ea1af&email_SHA1_lc=&cid=cw_nlt_computerworld_enterprise_apps_2017-06-20&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Computerworld%20Enterprise%20Apps%202017-06-20&utm_term=computerworld_enterprise_apps>
Apple is the top IT vendor, says Gartner
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction
Jonny Evans </author/Jonny-Evans/>
Get ready to abandon your preconceptions, Microsoft’s IT hegemony is broken.
Gartner now claims Apple, Samsung, and Google have become the top three IT
vendors by revenue.
The laws of motion
Sir Isaac Newton (star of the first ever Apple logo) in his Third Law of
Motion said, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
You find this philosophical construct applied in numerous ways – from the ebb
and flow of politics and social discourse to the inevitability with which
Apple has returned from the dead to become the world’s leading tech company:
reviled, criticized and imitated, the company now leads the IT pack
<http://www.applemust.com/apple-the-future-of-enterprise-it/>.
This may be the case in consumer markets, but surely this isn’t so when it
comes to enterprise IT? Except it is so, as new generations of employee and
new implementations of IT bring Apple-friendly business solutions into
everyday working life.
Tick-tock
Apple’s success in consumer markets translated into a growing position within
enterprise IT, forcing Microsoft to adopt a more Apple-like business plan as
it moved to become a hardware vendor in its own right, rather than a software
licensor in partnerships with others. It’s like clockwork, and the evidence
is easy to find:
IBM now claims
<http://www.computerworld.com/article/3131906/apple-mac/ibm-says-macs-are-even-cheaper-to-run-than-it-thought.html>
it costs three times as much for tech support to manage Windows PCs as it
does to manage Macs.
IBM has over 10,000 people
<http://www.computerworld.com/article/3201009/apple-ios/apple-is-pervasive-in-the-enterprise-says-ibm.html>
developing iOS apps for enterprise users.
According to Good Technology's Mobility Index Report
<https://www1.good.com/about/press-releases/mobility-index-report-shows-160-percent-increase.html>,
iPhone accounted for 72% of all enterprise smartphone activations during the
first quarter while iPad accounted for 81 percent of tablet activations.
The JAMF annual survey
<http://www.computerworld.com/article/3177371/apple-mac/apple-s-enterprise-success-mac-and-ios-usage-is-climbing-fast.html>
reveals similar sets of statistics, with 91 percent of organizations are now
using Mac and 99 percent on iPad and iPhone.
Gartner says…
The Gartner list
<http://www.cbronline.com/news/enterprise-it/apple-beats-samsung-google-ibm-named-top-it-vendor/>
is interesting in many ways.
Not only does it quantify the sea change that’s taken place in IT, but it is
the first time the analyst firm has published a list like it.
The analyst says it hopes tech business leaders will use this list as a way
to “benchmark competitive performance” as the driver of IT purchasing. The
idea is that the measures of what makes sense in enterprise IT are changing
dramatically as digital transformation’s grip extends across everything.
Gartner calls this a shift from “The Nexus of Forces
<http://www.gartner.com/technology/research/nexus-of-forces/> to digital
business <http://www.gartner.com/technology/research/digital-business/> as
the driver of IT purchasing.”
“The needs of IT buyers are shifting. CEOs are focused on growth and are more
focused on realising business outcomes from their IT spend,” said John-David
Lovelock, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner.
These things aren't just tools -- they have become money-making investments
in their own right.
Apple’s weaving new reality
At this point, Apple appears to have some advantages in the new enterprise IT.
“Gartner has unveiled its top 100
<https://www.gartner.com/document/code/333112> vendors in IT, with iPhone
giant Apple taking the top spot with more than $218 billion in IT revenue.
Apple’s revenue was a huge $79 billion more than its closest rival Samsung,
which came in at the number two spot with $139 billion.”
That’s just revenue, of course – the big test will be if Apple can
successfully pivot its position to fully exploit its changing status in the
industry.
Reaching for the pivot
At its recent WWDC developer event
<http://www.computerworld.com/article/3200038/wwdc-2017-an-enterprise-perspective-on-apple-s-ios-11.html>
it introduced some improvements
<http://www.computerworld.com/article/3200826/10-reasons-macos-high-sierra-is-good-for-the-enterprise.html>
for business users, but I think its newly-announced augmented and virtual
reality development tools present the best near-term opportunity for the
company.
You see, it’s not just about supporting existing business systems – it is
already getting better at that: but for true success in the sector Apple
needs to provide fresh platforms for new business growth.
That’s exactly what ARKit
<http://www.computerworld.com/article/3200027/wwdc-2017-everything-you-need-to-know-about-apple-and-ar.html>,
with its already deployed hundreds of millions of playback devices
(compatible iPhones) will provides. This is so tempting even Cisco’s in on
the act
<http://www.applemust.com/wwdc-cisco-and-apple-get-ready-for-ar-in-the-enterprise/>.
Defy gravity
“We should expect to see a larger AR ecosystem develop around software and
products to provide enhanced capabilities to the Apple AR features. This is
the first step in creating an immersive AR experience for consumers," said
David Goldman, Vice President of Marketing at Lumus
<https://lumusvision.com/>.
We can already see Apple's end-to-end creation-&-consumption AR platform
piquing interest among sections of the business community.
One great illustration of the potential of this – IKEA says it will be a
launch partner for Apple AR solutions
<https://9to5mac.com/2017/06/19/ios-11-apple-ar-augmented-reality-ikea-app/>,
providing a catalog of products you’ll be able to try around your home.
That’s just one of dozens of potential solutions
<https://www.lifewire.com/augmented-reality-iphone-apps-4140240> that
enterprise developers may want to explore. When you look at this potential,
Newton’s Laws of Motion seemingly favor Apple’s growing enterprise pitch.
Quite appropriate, given the importance of the famed mathematician in Apple's
earliest days.
Jonny is a freelance writer who has been writing (mainly about Apple and
technology) since 1999.
Computerworld's IT Salary Survey 2017 results
<http://www.computerworld.com/resources/134165/it-salary-watch/computerworlds-it-salary-survey-2017-results#tk.ctw-inflr>