CIO switches his company from Windows to Macs

Enterprises wondering about whether you can power your company on the Mac platform may want to ping Auto Warehousing Co. CIO Dale Frantz.

According to Computerworld, Frantz is pulling the plug on his Microsoft Windows shop to switch to Apple. The switch happens in the next 60 days.

Whether Frantz is leading a mass exodus remains to be seen. Apple's potential in the enterprise market is a never-ending question in IT. Beyond creative types enterprises have been reluctant to go all Mac.

Frantz is apparently making the plunge based on the theory that he can lower his operating costs by going Mac. Auto Warehousing (AWC) is the largest full-service auto processing company in North America.

Computerworld reports:

AWC's new strategic enterprise technology plan is the direct result of proof-of-concept testing that indicates that the company can cut costs, increase system reliability and security, and provide expanded IT support services by porting a major portion of its IT infrastructure to Apple. Extricating itself from its exclusive dependence on Microsoft is simply the cherry on top.

Unfortunately, Computerworld doesn't offer any metrics to back up that previous paragraph. Reducing the Windows monoculture can improve security, but there are no concrete figures on how much Frantz hopes to save.

In fact, all I see in the story is costs:

• Frantz has to retrain his IT staff, which shouldn't be that difficult;
• The company is taking 12 to 18 months to rewrite AWC's vehicle inventory processing system to work with the Mac;
• And running Parallels to make Macs work with some applications.

Meanwhile, AWC isn't ripping out everything Microsoft. Computerworld reports:

AWC's plan, to be announced at a July 29 managers meeting, calls for the retention of some Microsoft technology. AWC’s main client/server software, VIPS (Vehicle Inventory Processing System), will continue to run on Microsoft SQL Server on the back end. “The SQL server runs well; it’s a solid product. There’s no business case to change that,” Frantz says. But function by function, AWC will rewrite all VIPS client software in Java 6.0 or higher so it can run at the front end on Apple Macs. VIPS currently runs client software on Windows XP, which AWC will not upgrade to the newer Vista operating system.

If anything AWC's move appears to be an indictment of the ROI associated with Vista. Frantz notes that moving to the Mac is a better strategic move, but the metrics are being close to the vest.