“A recent study done by The Yankee Group states that many small to medium sized businesses are wary of Microsoft’s motives. However, these same businesses often lack the resources or the courage to consider alternatives. After I helped a small business migrate to the Macintosh platform and their latest operating system, OS X, I believe that cost is a compelling reason for your business to consider the ‘Switch,'” Kevin Ledgister writes for OSViews.
“Yes, cost. Five years ago, I would agree with the masses that the initial cost of purchasing a Macintosh over a PC in the past was daunting. Study after study has shown that Macs present a lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) than PC’s, but those studies were done predominantly in the graphics and media businesses, where the extra power and features built into a Macintosh play a larger role. It is harder to justify those features when your needs are for mundane tasks such as word processing, email, Internet access, and spreadsheets,” Ledgister writes. “Today, the world is a very different place. You can purchase a Macintosh with a lot of features and standard software that is priced competitively with PC’s, especially the ones purchased for mundane business use. With lower prices, your TCO picture changes dramatically.”
Ledgister presents reasons why switching to Macintosh will save your business money:
– No viruses on the current Mac platform running the latest operating system. Compare this to over 80,000 viruses on a Windows PC all of which require expensive IT staff to patch, inoculate, and eradicate.
– Reduced support calls. With an easier-to-use interface and true plug-n-play, Mac users tend to do more with their computers, improving productivity, and quickly become experienced users, easily solving their own problems. In my surveys of businesses and institutions, it is not uncommon to find a single Mac technician supporting hundreds of Macs. Most businesses plan for one technician for every 50 PC’s and in many cases, that is stretching the limit.
– Longevity. Several research firms have studied the difference in platform life and in every case, reported longer life cycles for the Macintosh platform over the PC. A longer life cycle saves you hard cash as you need not replace your computers as often, or can re-use them in other ways.
Full article here.