![The Evolution of the iPod Nano [Infographic]](http://www.cultofmac.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/ipodnano6g_evolution-250x150.jpg)
Hello, Customers – Are You Still There? Musings of an Apple Consultant
By Dave Yoken (4:15 pm, Apr. 16, 2010)
Note: This is a guest column by David Yoken, founder of Macuity, a Boston Apple consultancy, who discusses the joys of providing IT and repair services to machines that “just work.”
Just got off a call with an architectural firm for whom we set up a brand new server last week. The typical conversation I have with clients is amusingly formulaic, and this one was much of the same:
Me: How’s everything going with your new server?
Customer: It’s really wonderful. We haven’t had any problems, and the transition has been nearly seamless.
Me: Super! I’m glad things are working out. I suppose now would be a good time to talk about a service and maintenance contract and schedule for your new equipment.
Customer: Well, we probably can handle most everything on our own. Apple makes it so easy, so we’ll be fine!
Me: Oh, umm…, absolutely! How about remote monitoring or help desk services?
Customer: Yeah, sure, but you probably won’t hear from us much on that end either. I think we can take it from here, but thanks!
Back in 2006, in my infinite wisdom, I decide to start a company providing IT support services for Mac-based businesses in the Boston area. A friend of mine was a PC consultant, and his business was booming. In addition, the halo effect created by Steve Jobs’ masterful combination of iPod, iMac, and Apple Store over the past decade was spilling out all over the place. Everywhere I went, from airports to coffee shops to business conventions, I saw more and more laptops radiating their iconic Apple logo in luminescent splendor for all to see. I thought to myself, certainly there will be plenty of businesses switching to Mac who would need IT support. And since I’ve always loved working with Macs, and meeting new people, how in the world could I lose?
There was only one problem. What I forgot to build into my supposedly brilliant business plan was the fact that, by and large, Macs tend to just work. The reality is that Macs tend to cost less to support and manage compared to their PC brethren. I’ve known about this anecdotally for some time, and now there is a concrete evidence to back it up. Indeed, a study conducted by the folks at the Enterprise Desktop Alliance, who interviewed hundreds of IT administrators across the country, concluded that by and large, Macs are generally cheaper to manage than PCs in six of seven administrative IT categories. (Read about the full study here: Enterprise Desktop Alliance Study)
This study speaks to an idea that I’ve talked about for years with potential customers thinking of switching their offices from PC to Mac: Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). TCO is essentially a more accurate view of how much it really costs to own a computer over its normal shelf life. By and large, Macs are just cheaper to own than Windows-based computers. The only problem is that, in effect, the notion of TCO reduces the need for businesses like mine! What’s more, given the dearth of spyware, malware, and viruses affecting the Mac platform, maintenance of Mac networks require far less day-to-day resources. Even fairly complex management and administration can sometimes be handled by those with a little grit, determination, and a facility for technology, a category to which many of my clients feel they belong.
Ultimately (and sadly for me), the notion that Mac-based companies without full-time IT staff actually require substantial technical support from operations like mine has become more and more unrealistic. No wonder my PC consultant friend is running around like a clown on purpose and I sit in my office in desolate solitude.
So anyway, please ponder all of this, but don’t cry for me. I’ll be here at my office optimistically waiting for the phone to ring… Sometime would be great… Please… Anyone?… Maybe I’ll just go grab a beer with the Maytag repairman. It seems we both have time to kill.
Posted by Dave Yoken in Apple, Macintosh, News, Opinions, Top stories | Comment on this article
If you enjoyed this article:
Subscribe via RSS or email, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter
Wow, someone else had my brilliant idea (before me of course)!
I too have embarked on a consulting business specializing in supporting the Macintosh. And (crickets chirping) with the same results.
I have a lot of PC experience too and have been far, far busier on that, inferior OS than I have on the Mac, so I’m keeping the wolves from the door at least.
Sorry to take comfort from your situation, but I do, thank you. It’s always nice to know we’re not alone.
Vanmacguy, on April 16th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Your story reminds me of the old Maytag repairman commercials. The Maytag repair would complain of having nothing to do since Maytag was so reliable.
Jeff Miller, on April 16th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
I’m typing this note on a MacBook Pro. The FIRST MacBook Pro. The only reason to upgrade to the latest laptop would be for the speed. Their products truly are outstanding. (Except the iMac line. Honestly, I’ve helped more friends with problems on those units than any other kind of Mac.)
JAYnLA, on April 16th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
I have to agree with Jeff, being a Mac consultant is very much like being a Maytag repairman. After 5 years of being a Mac consultant I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to expand my scope beyond Macs if I want to keep going. Seeing a client once a year (or less often) has left me with entirely too much idle time. If it weren’t for the fact that I’m available after hours (24/7/365) and keep an inventory of hardware (hard drives, RAM, etc) I’d have had to have found other employment a long time ago…
Dave Bonhoff, on April 16th, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Its smart to research the kind of business your getting into before you start it, to determine the viability of your business model.
But seriously this whole post is just a sad attempt to tout Apple reliability. I am long time Mac user but I have never felt so insecure that I have constantly point to others how great the things I own are …
.
alex, on April 16th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
great article…I love it…it’s true…Macs Just Work…
I am the Apple Expert at Best Buy…and the only time people bring in their macs to geek squad is if they want to upgrade something or they are just too stupid to figure it out…and those people are fewer and farther between than the PC people…
I wish we had Macs for our work because it is so annoying to be a store that sells computers and the ones we have for POS are pieces of sh**…I don’t know how many times during a day the POS has to be Force Rebooted…it’s funny
oh well someday the world will wake up…and realize that they need less drama in their lives and get to mac…and it’s true ONCE YOU GO MAC YOU NEVER GO BACK…besides…windoze runs better on a mac…I love quoting PC Magazine on that one…lol
Alexis, on April 16th, 2010 at 9:28 pm
I’m an Apple consultant in Dallas. Our business is doing quite well. We work with mostly small businesses who don’t have I.T. staff. Macs may break down less than other computers, there can still be problems — mostly with third party products running on the Mac. A lot of my recent business has been in setting up new customers with Macs, and performing Windows to Mac transitions.
Howie Isaacks, on April 16th, 2010 at 9:41 pm
I have a small video production company. We are an entirely Mac office, (except for 1 PC in a monster of case to house 6 DVD-RW drives). I’ve always handled every bit of IT for our entire 10 years in business. Being very tech savvy (I like to think) I’ve never required assistance. I handle it all. But one day I wasn’t in office and a gentleman from an IT consulting firm came in to “talk” and pretty much sell his services. I’m told that once he glanced around and noticed nothing but Mac Pros, Power Macs and MacBooks he seemed a bit deflated and pretty much spent his time asking questions about our business and kinds of videos we produce instead of selling his business.
I don’t know if it was because his company didn’t handle Macs or simply he knew there wouldn’t be much chance to get any work from us. But I thought it was a pretty funny story nonetheless.
Agaethon, on April 16th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
I echo the article & comments here. Happen to work in a 70% PC 30% Mac not-for-profit. Am still quite new to IT, so having the number of Macs that we have has DEFINITELY been a big help. Our servers are all HP, and we do run some Hyper-V…and we’ll continue to be a mostly-PC environment, but I kid you not…the helpdesk requests I get are, if I’d have to guess, 96% PC. Windows XP crashing, getting viruses (even though we purchased and run plenty of anti-this/anti-that), and Exchange Server issues.
In a way, oddly enough, I prefer things to stay this way. My “IT Staff” is one person…me. If we went all Mac, there wouldn’t be much of a need for me. Don’t even get me started on mobile phones…the higher-ups who have subsidized phones are all iPhone now except for 2…which has also made my life QUITE easy.
MfS, on April 16th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Well… there’s always the possiblity of an old lady that needs help taking her G5 upstairs…
Optical, on April 17th, 2010 at 12:37 am
There are good days and bad days in Mac business consulting. Some of my clients won’t call me for weeks at a time, while others call me daily. My advice is to find the business that really push their Macs to the limit on a daily basis and are incredibly busy. Those will be your best friends for life!
Andrew, on April 17th, 2010 at 6:34 am
From MfS
“… If we went all Mac, there wouldn’t be much of a need for me.
…”
And you wonder why governments all over the world gives Microsoft a free ride?
M$ creates jobs, even unnecessary ones, but job nevertheless.
Sad but true.
Deocliciano Okssipin Vieira, on April 17th, 2010 at 7:52 am
Hilarious article, I love the satire. It’s true though, Macs just work.
I look forward to your future posts.
Dan, on April 17th, 2010 at 8:52 am
It’s true, the initial configuration is the most challenging for a new Mac owner, especially if it’s a business environment.
The author neglected to mention the proliferation of Apple Stores and thus, the easy access to the Genius Bar. This is where Joe Consumer goes for Mac help.
I dumped my dual-boot Windows/Linux PC in 2002 for an Apple iBook and immediately saw my system administration load drop by 90%.
Based on the useful lifespan of the systems, the light sysadmin load and the general ease of use, the total cost of ownership of a Mac is very reasonable. Plus, I’m happier that “things just work” and I’m free to focus on other matters.
cv, on April 17th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
Hey Dave – In hindsight, the Maytag repairman may also have suffered from a shrinking market share for his brand. Fortunately for us, Apple is growing in popularity!
At Oakbog (my own consulting business) the Mac’s reliability and less frequent support needs allows me as a sole proprietor to take on more clients than I could if offering Windows support – and with far fewer headaches for both of us. Not a bad deal.
Adam Rosen, on April 17th, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Been there, done that for some number of years. I was once a one-man IT department supporting a network of 60+ Macs. In the same operation, it took eight people to support a much smaller number of Windows systems. So it goes.
A Mac consultant can’t hope to make a living on repair, troubleshooting and upgrading. Fortunately, most corporate types using Macs have no clue how much Macs can do for them. The trick to getting continuing business from a client is showing them new things they can do — things they’d never attempt to do with Windows. Macs encourage creativity, and so do good Mac consultants.
Guy (CouchGuy) McLimore, on April 17th, 2010 at 11:48 pm