In 2002, Apple fired its corporate PR manager for prematurely releasing a Gartner study that found the usage and total cost of ownership around 10,000 PCs and Macs at Melbourne University was about 36 percent less expensive to maintain than PC-based networks.
For those involved in system support, that’s probably not a big surprise.
Fast-forward to today and we’re hearing a similar story. However, this time we’re hearing it from IBM – Apple’s onetime mortal enemy (at least if you believe everything from the excellent movie The Pirates of Silicon Valley). IBM is planning to deploy up to 200,000 per year according to IBM’s CIO Jeff Smith.
During Apple’s most recent earnings call, Luca Maestri, SVP and chief financial officer, said, “There are currently over 30,000 Macs deployed within the…