Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) decided last month Xserve line of server rack, one of his rare pure commercial products to kill. What's more, Apple's business customers is only four months to adopt, to announce that they have a "guide for the transition period" that they will not sell Xserve after 31 January 2011.
Without getting too thrilled with the finer blade servers, Xserve is essentially a high-powered Macintosh computer with more features to help you network with other computers or host sites.
Unlike a regular Mac, Xserve redundant power supplies, it can be controlled remotely, and the screws in a rack-mount shelves this area to help business customers to keep the cluster of computer network -. And that they also protect the server that contains them from harm. This is an important consideration in earthquake-prone Bay Area, where some of the Xserve customers are located.
So Apple's solution is so head-scratching: He suggested Xserve customers would rather buy a Mac Pro or Mac Mini Mac OS X Server, both can and notice that the Apple Mac Pro processor is faster than the Xserve ..
It's true - but they did not rack servers keep a Mac Mini and Xserve a side-by-side, and the comparison is ridiculous ..
Xserve customers' response was, not surprisingly, a mixture of confusion and frustration.
"It makes many, many angry," said Paul Chernoff, IT Director at Washingtonian.com, who runs a Web site two and 72 Xserve Mac support. "I do not think Apple handled it very well in terms of understanding the needs of enterprise customers."
Four months is enough knowledge of the company now has completely rethink their server infrastructure, "he said. Plus, the timing is unfortunate. Apple announced near the end of the year, right when IT departments are busy in finalizing their budgets for next year.
Apple representatives declined to comment on the Xserve, the company has canceled, and the response was to move the consumer business.
IT gurus say that the way Apple will kill the Xserve is a symptom of a larger problem: Apple has a communication gap with their corporate customers.
"Apple does not understand that talking to companies about IT related stuff is not the same as the consumer," said John Welch, IT director at Zimmerman Agency, a digital marketing and PR firm "The consumers, when they heard nothing and all of a sudden. - ta da - they get a new iPhone, which is great for our guys, this is a nightmare that we hate" ...
Most business customers are not surprised by the announcement of the Xserve. Their comments went along the lines of "this is what you get for dealing with Apple."
"We have a detour to take, and it is alarming," said an IT manager in the entertainment industry, who asked not to be identified because his company remains an Apple client "But that whole business to Apple's philosophy. The Finally, it is always beneficial for the end user, but not always beneficial for the company. "
0:00 / 1:53 Apple Mac back to its roots
To be fair, Apple's business customers are not exactly busting down doors to buy the Xserve. Apple server marketed share of less than 4%, according to IDC.
Steve Jobs has said as much in response to an irate customer Xserve. "Almost no one is buying," he wrote in an often-quoted e-mail (Apple's PR representative refused to confirm whether emails are really from Jobs decline, which often responds to e-mails from customers.) Many analysts said they believe Apple is losing money on the server.
Yet, ask all the questions? Apple really want to be on the market in business and if so, it is even able to compete there?
Entrenched business suppliers such as IBM (IBM, Fortune 500), Dell (DELL, Fortune 500), Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500) to give customers a roadmap for 4:58 years their line servers and other business-critical enterprise hardware products. Unlike its competitors, Apple's product plans and specifications are rarely offers a very small business customer service and support.
Companies do not really need Apple's servers to support the Mac. Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) for Windows Server and Linux servers are fully capable of handling a large fraction of the cost of bringing Xserve.
So here is the big surprise: Many customers say they stuck with Mac Xserve platform for both desktop and server.
A survey of 1200 customers Xserve conducted by the Enterprise Desktop Alliance found that 70% of customers who say Apple's Xserve announcement will have no impact on the organization's decision to buy a new Mac.
Xserve customers have enjoyed a couple. Unlike most servers, which are targeted (Server is a file server No 1, No. 2 Server is a web server, etc.), the Xserve loose in nature to a large extent used to multitask while handling a variety of features, found the Enterprise Desktop Alliance.
Most of these features can be easily done by a Mac Mini or a Mac Pro. As a result, said most customers stick them in the Xserve Mac, most of what they had to replace their Xserve.
The only exceptions are for things like the Mac is simply not equipped to take on an enterprise level, which runs a Web or file server. Respondents generally said they are switching to Linux for web serving and Windows server files.
"The research shows that Apple does not alienate more than a few percentage points of customers, and it was taken at a time when the emotional reaction is likely a swollen," said Reid Lewis, president of Group Logic, a maker of business software in relation to the Enterprise Desktop Alliance. "This is good news for Apple."
Thus, even when frustrated, Apple's business customers have enough confidence in the company will continue to rely on Apple's always been a niche player in the corporate market, but it has an advantage of rivals like Microsoft and HP can only dream. In the eyes of many customers, Apple could do something wrong - even when it is something wrong.
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