Leadership By Numbers

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It's surreal to read analysts with their paralysis over Windows and Macintosh enterprise desktop deployment. Neither Microsoft or Apple are creating enterprise visions for the desktop. It's an epic dilemma on a scale with Odysseus sailing between Scylla and Charybdis.


Microsoft's problems with Vista's performance are not likely to be resolved with Windows 7 without a kernel revision. Did everyone forget what happened between Windows 95 and XP ? Because what is happening right now looks like Windows 98 and Windows Millennium.


Apple's problems are more subtle, because they are selling so easily in the executive suites. C.G. Lynch and Robert Lemos discuss the "Tangled Path For Macs in the Enterprise" in the lastest CIO edition (it's not on-line yet, so look under Essential Technology). Macs may have become a successful consumer product, but not so much in the enterprise. Apple is still seen as essentially a "consumer-oriented company by the numbers."

• Apple "does not provide technology road maps." When Steve Jobs steps out on the stage to announce the next-big-thing. We know that (1) it's going to be cool, (2) it's a surprise, and (3) it's already shipping. Too bad my department's budget isn't driven by the unpredictability of coup de theatre.

• Apple's integration of hardware and software is impressive, but Apple doesn't do a good job supporting hardware a few versions older than their most current OS. For instance, the 10.5 "Leopard" release will not support slower G4 or any G3 processors. Take a look at the Wikipedia timeline for Apple hardware releases to get an eye for this spread. Companies don't want to turn their hardware until it's been fully capitalized, and many want to go 5 years with full vendor support.

So, who are we missing in this discussion ? There's Microsoft with Vista, and Apple with its Mac. Neither of them are doing a very good job working with long term support, are they ? It's peculiar, isn't it, that the analysis is summed up under two headlines, and how each one is faring poorly for the enterprise desktop.


Where's the talk about Linux ? Not there ? Just ask which problem is simpler to solve with the greatest financial benefit ?

1. Apple Computer will rework its licensing, hardware and OS development. It will provide backwards support for older hardware with newer software, and keep everything current with patches and security updates. Apple Computer will architect an inexpensive, low-margin base for desktops that will provide a cost-effective alternative to the average enterprise desktop.
2. Microsoft Windows will craft an OS that is compatible with its current product line, but is faster, more secure, and lighter with a new kernel.
3. Hardware vendors, open-source developers, and Linux distributions will plug the gaps in enterprise support.
   

The name of Odysseus's ship is never mentioned. But in my mind's eye, if there was a figurehead on the ship's bow, it might be a penguin.

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