IBM switching to Macs. Why?

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(jamf) – User choice at IBM
Fletcher Previn, VP of Workplace as a Service at IBM, started the discussion by sharing what they’ve done to transform company culture for the 400,000+ employees who span across IBM’s 2,800 locations. It started with user choice.

In 2015, IBM let their employees decide – Windows or Mac. “The goal was to deliver a great employee choice program and strive to achieve the best Mac program,” Previn said. An emerging favorite meant the deployment of 30,000 Macs over the course of the year. But that number has grown. With more employees choosing Mac than ever before, the company now has 90,000 deployed (with only five admins supporting them), making it the largest Mac deployment on earth.

But isn’t it expensive, and doesn’t it overload IT? No. IBM found that not only do PCs drive twice the amount of support calls, they’re also three times more expensive. That’s right, depending on the model, IBM is saving anywhere from $273 – $543 per Mac compared to a PC, over a four-year lifespan. “And this reflects the best pricing we’ve ever gotten from Microsoft,” Previn said. Multiply that number by the 100,000+ Macs IBM expects to have deployed by the end of the year, and we’re talking some serious savings.

Needless to say, the employees at IBM got it right. And with 73% of them saying they want their next computer to be a Mac, the success will only increase with time.

To help maintain the demand for Macs in the workplace, and the 1,300 new Macs deployed each week, IBM adopted Jamf to leverage Apple’s Device Enrollment Program (DEP) for zero-touch deployment, which is critical given 40% of their workforce is remote. Employees receive a consumer experience from the moment they receive their Mac, which continues with a Workstation Asset Management Tool and a re-designed intranet, providing employees with an Apple-like, self-help experience. Not only do these additions drive self-sufficiency among employees, but they also help create confidence with the product.

“The shortest distance to engaging employees is by what’s in their hand or what’s on their desk,” Previn said. He was right. Year over year, IBM has seen a drastic increase in their employee engagement scores. In fact, “Better Tools” was cited as the number one driver for the overall improvement.

Previn ended the session with a fact worth noting. “Every Mac we buy is in fact continuing to make and save IBM money.”

Personalized learning in education
Not only are Macs making a difference in the workplace – they’re also changing lives in the classroom. Vicki Lyons, Technology Services Director for the La Crosse School District, shared how their Apple deployment continues to change the educational experience through personalized learning.

The School District of La Crosse, Wisconsin serves a diverse population of 8,000 students across 11 elementary schools, six middle schools and four high schools. Determined to create student equality, staff members districtwide donated 10 percent of their yearly budget so all faculty and students could receive an Apple device.

“We really believe the management piece of Jamf lets us manage what our users need, especially in the classroom,” Lyons said.

Using Jamf Pro, the district deployed approximately 9,400 Apple devices. While grades K-4 use iPads in the classroom, students in grades 5-8 participate in a 1:1 iPad program. High schoolers have a 1:1 MacBook program, and staff members each have a MacBook Air. The district recently migrated to Apple School Manager (ASM), and plans to integrate with its student information system (SIS), Skyward.

And while they appreciate the same benefits as the La Crosse School District, Blair Anderson, Technology Manager at Shawnee Heights School District, had different reasons for choosing Jamf.

Above all else – there’s Jamf Nation. “Even when we were not using Jamf, we were using the Jamf Nation website to get the resources we needed,” Anderson said. And there’s true, zero-day support – as in, the moment you need help, it’s there. Roll all that together with a single system to manage both Mac and iOS, and Anderson said you can’t lose.

Prior to implementation, the school district in Tecumseh, Kansas, was 100% Microsoft. Since implementing a user choice program in Sept. 2015, more than 90% of the district’s teachers choose Mac. And despite constant budget cuts, the district is committed to offer Apple to their approximately 3,500 students, grades pre-K –12.

Changing lives in the enterprise
As Apple continues to change the educational landscape around the world, iOS is changing lives in a more unexpected environment – healthcare.

The University of California, San Diego’s (UCSD) Jacobs Medical Center will soon transform patient experience with an interactive system that personalizes care. It’s a new, patient-centered world, and it’s possible with Apple and Jamf.

Jacobs Medical Center, opening in November 2016, will be the first hospital with Apple devices (iPad and Apple TV) across each of its 245 patient rooms. The offering will allow patients to look through their medical records and see when their medications should be taken. “We also want the patient to have control of the room,” Eric Boyd, Data Security Engineer at UC San Diego Health Sciences, said about the ability to control the blinds, TV and room temperature – all from the iPad.

And with security as a top priority, each device will be cleared automatically upon a patient’s discharge. Using Jamf Pro, Boyd said, “There’s no need for an IT person, at all, to touch the device.”

See the full news release for more details.

Moving forward
Hager wrapped up the day with grateful thanks to everyone who continues to make a difference for those in their environments, whether in education, the enterprise or healthcare. And he encouraged everyone to continue telling their stories – always. He lastly invited everyone to next year’s JNUC, which will be held October 24-26, 2017. Registration will open in November.