En Tech Republic: What Apple needs to do to make serious progress in the enterprise

1. There’s no way around the fact that Apple hardware has a significantly higher cost than the standard fare. … But big business doesn’t always think “in the long run.” Companies want immediate returns to empower their bottom line in the now –not in an unknown future. What’s fascinating about this issue is that most big businesses will opt for the pricier iPad over the Android tablet –but when it comes to the PC or laptop, the PC still dominates.

2. The Windows platform is built for business. This is especially true on the server level. With Active Directory, you can create an ideal structure with which to manage your staff’s login, security levels, and much more. The Apple platform includes LDAP, which does a great job with handling the sign-in duties for a heterogenous network. What it does not have is the ability to manage group policies.

Apple isn’t really all that far from slipping into the enterprise. By taking on the above two issues, the hippest tech company on the planet could do some major damage to Microsoft’s marketshare within the enterprise world. But until they make such changes, Apple desktops and laptops will have to be happy being relegated to small companies and individuals.