New research from Cisco’s 130,000 employees across 99 countries has found that workers prefer Macs over their PC counterparts, with three in five opting for Mac given the choice.
The report found that 24% were switching from PC to Mac at the device refresh stage, with many citing better IT satisfaction thanks to their workplace hardware more closely aligning with their personal preferences.
Cost isn’t the only factor holding back many businesses from choosing Mac devices, though, with many finding software lock-in to be a problem too.
Mac popularity among business users
According to Cisco SVP and CIO Fletcher Previn, the company’s Mac users created and closed more deals and bookings than their PC-using colleagues, while developers pushed out more code.
Previn also noted the five times fewer cyber threats and nine times fewer viruses that Mac users experienced compared with PC users, plus the higher adoption rate of biometric authentication (89% vs 29%).
On the cost front, Previn flagged that Macs worked out to be between $148 and $395 less expensive than PCs over three years. The total cost of ownership and deployment was calculated by adding up the typically higher upfront device cost and other worker-related expenses, such as training and cybersecurity.
There are other factors to take into account in order to calculate the suitability of Mac devices for business use, as well. Some software, including niche apps designed for a very specific task, are typically available on Windows before they become available on Mac, which renders the latter useless for some workers.
It’s also important to note that the study doesn’t mention average workers who may not need access to the powerful performance figures boasted by most Macs; oftentimes, a basic PC is sufficient.
Even so, Cisco’s analysis does serve to highlight the importance of a multifaceted approach to deciding which hardware is best for your business.
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