Eriq Neale the other day had an interesting discussion of how Mac desktops and SBS networks actually make a lot of sense....
I'm stealing it for this post:
The bottom line is: what software do you need to use to run your business? Even in Mac-only shops, there are features available with SBS that are not available in OS X. Here's a quick comparison of some of the features:
E-mail/Groupware - Entourage 2004, while only 90% of Outlook 2003, is a better collaborative tool for e-mail and calendaring than Mail and iCal in OS X. OS X gives you a solid, standards-based mail server that is awesome if you only need e-mail. But iCal falls behind in ease of use and management for setting up shared calendars. Plus, there's nothing like Outlook Web Access, Outlook Mobile Access, or RPC over HTTP support with the OS X mail services. So long as you're using IMAP, you can get around most of the challenges of accessing e-mail remotely, but you'd better be doing that over SSL, and OS X doesn't get you a free SSL cert (granted, cost isn't really a huge factor in third-party certs any more, so that's becoming less of an advantage).
Sharepoint - while Sharepoint was no designed for Mac use, most Macs, especially those running FireFox, can easily navigate a Sharepoint site and make use of most of the technologies behind it. No such beast is available bundled with OS X. Are there third-party solutions that have a similar approach? Sure, but it's gonna cost you.
I could add others, but it's early and I'm still waking up. If all one of my Mac-only shops was wanting to do is set up file/print, web, and basic e-mail services, sure, I'd discuss OS X server with them. And in a larger environment where SBS is only marginally applicable, there's no doubt that I'd be recommending OS X server. But in the clients I've got where I brought SBS into the equation, once I looked at the big picture and what the client was trying to achieve with their business, SBS made the most business sense.
It's not always about dollars. I've always said (usually when attacked about being a Mac user) that you use the right tool for the job. Sometimes that means bringing in or supporting a small number of Macs in a Windows-heavy environment. Sometimes it means bringing SBS into a Mac-heavy environment. I always try to help businesses make the most effective use of their technology dollars, and sometimes spending less on an inferior solution (based on their needs) is not the right approach.
Mac-heavy shops are generally found in several niche markets - advertising, graphic design, news media, video, music, publishing, etc. Historically, the best tools for those markets have been on the Mac. I've run across several other operations, including my most recent client, who started with one or two Macs, and everyone in the company fell in love with them and over time, the PCs were replaced with Macs. Others just started that way from the get-go. Like me. I run my business on my Macs, but I have plenty of PCs around to develop solutions, documentation, testing, etc. But all my core business functions reside on my PowerBook and Mac Mini.
In places where I've introduced SBS into the mix, there has already been some sort of Mac/PC mixture. One company in particular was recently purchased by a holding company who runs all their corporate accounting in Great Plains. Their initial plan was to come in and replace all the Macs in the company with PCs. Once they saw how the company operated, however, the plan changed to convert those folks who would spend most of their time in GP to PCs and let the rest of the company stay on the Mac. I have another client who will be getting an SBS box in a few months that already has two PCs used primarily for finance and accounting, so the cross-platform capabilities of SBS is the perfect solution for them.
It's the shrewd business person who realizes that platform doesn't matter, employee productivity does.
Good thoughts, huh?