Forrester Research IQ is way UP in after hours trading :-)
I was all set to do a piece on corporate greed after Exxon <frack frack frack> Mobil (XOM) profit skyrocketed 41% (quarterly earnings of $10.3 billion today) because of HIGHER PRICES, but then I saw an AMAZING article entitled, “Hell freezes over: Forrester urges IT to support the Mac.” Some 41% of enterprises will not let Apple Macintosh into their computing services, not even for email or Internet use. (Heck, you probably read many of THEIR NAMES in the list of 760 companies that were HACKED by the Chinese in my last entry, written earlier this evening.)
Apparently, Forrester Research had been giving that advice to technology departments for decades.
The CNNMoney article quotes a 2008 Forrester report on enterprise computing:
“IT departments crave standardization, and Macs pose too many problems for IT departments. The verdict for enterprise-focused vendors is clear: Unless your market is a niche business group, Windows is the only desktop you need support.”
Since I worked in supporting corporate IT and management for a long time, I just KNEW that administrators and management COULDN’T BE THAT STUPID on their OWN 😉 – they HAD to be getting bad advice (too)! 😉 (Note added November 5, 2011: Actually, in my experience, IT departments crave standardization and POSE TOO MANY PROBLEMS for THEMSELVES! Such departments often clone the Myers-Briggs ISTJ personality type, a type common in the military, in police and fire organizations, and in IBM. Unfortunately, the type is not as beneficial in IT organizations as in the military, police, and fire. Nevertheless, their TJ (thinking-judging) nature resonates well with that of executive management, who tend to BELIEVE them without questioning.)
NOW, Forrester Research has found that Mac users are more productive.
(DUH, smarter, too! 😉 Every person in my group at VeriSign, except the manager, 
had a Mac at home, even though the company made us use Windows PCs at work.) (Note added November 08, 2011: And yes, VeriSign was one of the other 760 companies (besides EMC’s RSA) hacked by the Chinese…. )
“It’s time to repeal prohibition and take decisive action,” writes David Johnson in a new report made available to Fortune (and available for sale here). “Mac users are your HEROes and you should enable them not hinder them.”
“HERO,” it turns out, is a Forrester acronym for Highly Empowered and Resourceful Operatives — “the 17% of information workers who use new technologies and find innovative ways to be more productive and serve customers more effectively.”
“Most of the Macs today,” writes Johnson, “are being freewheeled into the office by executives, top sales reps, and other workaholics. Forrester believes this is the same demographic that we’re now calling the “power laptop user,” and according to the latest Workforce Technology And Engagement Survey, power laptop users make 44% more money, use more collaboration apps, and carry an average of three devices wherever they go.”
These power users often pay for MacBook Pros WITH THEIR OWN FUNDS because the Windows PCs that their companies supply (according to the article):
- “Are slowing them down.” (That is why they’re used by so many linear thinkers. ) and
- “Look cheaply made.” (Guess what, folks! Many of them ARE cheaply made! )
The Forrester Report sells for $499. (Imagine. Now they get paid for GOOD advice! I think that you should BUY it this time.)
-Bill at
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