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I don't see Apple heading into the enterprise market.

Announced about a month ago...

http://www.apple.com/business/vpp/



I've reviewed the iOS Volume Purchase Program in some detail recently. It's not "enterprise" in any sense that I would use that word. To me, enterprise solutions means tightly coupled service and support, and negotiable terms/pricing. iOS VPP is a take it or leave it proposition.

I don't blame Apple for ignoring enterprise customers: they're usually a huge pain in the ass to deal with, and rarely have a clear idea of what they actually want. They engage suppliers just to have "a neck to choke" when things inevitably fall apart.


The iOS VPP is for purchasing apps that are most likely not made by Apple. How could they provide support or negotiate pricing for something made by someone else?


That's my point: it's not a traditional "enterprise" market. Neither price (what you pay to Apple) nor terms are negotiable. There is a certain amount of "support" involved, via the App Store approval/appeal process and transaction dispute handling, etc.


That's not enterprise that's just them saying you can create your own walled-garden inside our walled-garden and we'll show you how.

They aren't trying to run your enterprise for you, which is what a lot of ERP systems claim to do.


Ofcourse apple will want to enter enterprise. They want to fuel their future growth somehow and enterprise is much more willing to give apple a shot than before. Microsoft should be worried about this which has traditionally had a stronghold on enterprise.




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