IBM announced at the JAMF Nation User Conference that its Mac@IBM deployment code (a code that allows IT departments to collect additional information about their employees when configuring MacOs and allows employees to customize their registration by selecting applications or application sets to install) will become open source. In 2015, IBM seized the opportunity to deploy Macs internally to overcome any prejudice that Macs would be too expensive to purchase, maintain, and repair.
The fact that the number of Macs used by the company rose from 0 to 30,000 in just six months is already indicative of the success of this deployment. One year after the implementation began, IBM told the public that managing Apple products is cheaper when you look at the entire lifecycle. “IBM saves at least $265 (up to $535 depending on model) per Mac compared to a PC over a 4-year life cycle. Although the initial investment in workstations for PCs is lower, the residual value for Mac is higher,” the company said.
https://twitter.com/bradleychambers/status/1054748818514829312
“The Mac@IBM registration application is the culmination of three years of technology investment. It allows MacOs to be configured with Jamf Pro[Apple Enterprise Device Management Program] in a more intuitive way for users and makes it easier for IT departments to respond to employee requests to support selection. The experience from the proven Mac@IBM program has been transferred to the PC@IBM program, and IBM is using Windows 10 with many similar design points,” said Fletcher Previn, IBM CIO.
With this decision to make Mac@IBM Open Source, more companies will be able to build on IBM’s capabilities and offer their employees and partners an enhanced experience with Mac products. Internet users have commented on this topic. In addition, they add the runtime that executes and applies configuration recipes is an exclusive commercial configuration management and deployment suite called JAMF Pro. They are therefore reluctant to get excited about open source development of recipes whose ingredients are not.