Today at the 2019 Jamf Nation User Conference (JNUC), IBM announced research showing its employees who use Mac are more likely to stay with IBM and exceed performance expectations compared to PC users. Since announcing its Mac@IBM program in 2015, IBM now has over 290,000 Apple devices within its organization.
In 2015, IBM first appeared on stage at JNUC in 2015 to announce its Mac@IBM program. IBM was deploying 1,900 Mac devices per week, all supported by 24 help desk staff members. At the time, that equated to one staff member supporting 5,400 Mac users, compared to one support staff member supporting 242 PC users. IBM also found that only 5% of Mac users called the help desk for assistance, compared to 40% of PC users.
In 2016, Fletcher Previn, CIO at IBM, came back on the JNUC stage to give an update on IBM’s deployment. With over 90,000 Mac deployed by 2016, Previn demonstrated how IBM saves anywhere from $273-$543 per Mac compared to a PC, over a four-year span.
In 2018, Previn announced IBM now managed more than 277,000 Apple devices, all supported by 78 staff members. Previn also announced that IBM open-sourced its provisioning process to assist the Mac community in delivering the same new-hire experience as it does with its Mac@IBM program.
This year, Previn announced first-of-its-kind research that shows how Mac enables IBM employees to be more productive, along with improving employee satisfaction and retention. He said there are 22% more macOS users who exceeded expectations in performance reviews, compared to Windows users. Also, high value sales deals tend to be 16% larger for macOS users, compared to Windows users.
Previn says that macOS users are 17% less likely to leave IBM, compared to those who use Windows. MacOS users are also happier with the third-party software availability within IBM. Only 5% of macOS users ask for additional software, compared to 11% of Windows users.
Previn also announced research on how macOS users and devices require less support, as seven engineers support 200,000 macOS devices versus 20 engineers required to support 200,000 Windows devices. That’s a 186% increase in support engineering needed for Windows devices. Migration is also easier for IBM workers using Mac, as nearly 98% of macOS users report that the migration was simple, compared to 86% migrating from Windows 7 to Windows 10.
“The state of IT is a daily reflection of what IBM thinks and feels about its employees,” said Fletcher Previn, CIO, IBM. “I’ve said it before – when did it become OK to live like the Jetsons at home but the Flintstones at work? We aim to create a productive environment for IBMers and continuously improve their work experience, and that’s why we introduced our employee-choice program to IBM employees in 2015.”
