Apple and the double edged sword of corporate IT

Following Steve Jobs announcement that he was stepping down as CEO of Apple two weeks ago there has been a great deal of IT industry press about Apple and its future role in corporate IT. This is a market that Apple has previously failed to conquer, while the MacIntosh made in roads into education and the graphics design/architecture niches it failed to gain any real market share in the rest of the corporate world. Apple has long eyed the corporate market as an untapped growth area rivalling the consumer market for potential revenue and profit growth and with the never ending need to grow and exceed analysts expectations and its market dominance of the consumer market it must surely be very tempting. Certainly the iPhone and the iPad are making their way into the corporate landscape in a way Apple has not been able to do since the early days of the Mac, that is through the board rooms and executive suites.

But should Apple be so eager to become a major corporate player, have they considered what it may cost the Apple brand?

As I noted in my blog last week corporate IT is on the nose, it has been responsible for massive job losses, outsourcing, off shoring and untold human misery. And yes I know, executives made these decisions not the technology but there is a deep seated suspicion around any corporate IT project or new IT product that is entirely justified. This suspicion has impacted the major corporate IT vendors such as IBM, Oracle, SAP and Microsoft and there brands have suffered accordingly. The current fad with cloud computing is as much a reaction to perceived problems with existing vendors and corporate IT departments as it is about economics. Apple has never been called the “evil empire” (a phrase coined by Novell’s CEO to describe Microsoft) as it has not been tainted with the poison corporate IT chalice. As one of the IT newsletters pointed out last week Microsoft has changed the world more than Apple, however Apple has gained the moral high ground and consumer perception of being the world changer. 

That is because Apples products have enhanced users lives, not threatened them. Apple has changed the way music is consumed, totally replaced Sony’s walkman, made family photos portable and available anytime anywhere and provided the technology (via the iStore and its web of application providers) for connecting friends and family instantly. This is all perceived as positive to individuals, this brand perception is incredibly valuable to Apple and contracts starkly to perception of corporate IT vendors.  Also Apples products are about personal freedom and individuality, what will Apple need to sacrifice to meet the command and control imperatives of a modern corporation (the industry press have gleefully listed a great many changes that Apples needs to make to be accepted as corporate grade IT)?

The billion dollar question is – can Apple seriously enter the corporate IT market, make money and maintain its brand position of innovation that enhances our lives?