Mac Vs Windows isn’t the same battle it was years ago. With Web-based applications becoming more popular, it really might not matter what you use for computers in your business these days. It kind of depends on what your employees feel comfortable using and what makes them as efficient as possible.
Where Mac and Windows differ greatly, is how they are managed. If your IT Consultant uses the same platform to manage both Macs and Windows, chances are they aren’t doing a great job on the Mac side. Here are some great questions you can ask your IT Consultant (or a prospective consultant) about how they manage Apple devices.
1. What MDM platform do you use for Apple devices? (Then google the answer and see if it’s a real Apple MDM.)
2. What are your policies for getting Macs up to date if there’s an update that needs to be applied? (This is kind of a trick question because there is not a great way to do this unless you REALLY know how to nudge an update.)
3. How have you adapted your MDM to Apple’s new processors? (There is a lot going on with Apple’s new processors and how to secure them and update them, if they don’t know this, they haven’t done it much.)
4. How do you install and update 3rd party applications on our Apple devices? (If they say Apple’s App store, then it’s not a great experience for anybody.)
5. Do I need an Apple Business Manager account and do you take advantage of Apple Device Enrollment? (If they can’t answer this question, you cannot automatically deploy computers and they must be set up by hand which is not efficient. Especially if you have remote employees.)
Knowing how to manage Macs isn’t difficult, but knowing how to do them WELL is a different story. Lots of Windows IT companies do the bare minimum for Macs, however that’s not fair to you to receive an inferior experience just because you like using a Mac at your business.
My IT Indy is in the Apple Consultants Network and is a Microsoft Silver Partner. This means we are experts in both platforms.