Microsoft Barring Many of its Employees from Buying Apple Products with Company Funds?

[rjohnstone]

There's a lot of reading comprehension issues going on here.

The use of company funds to purchase Apple products is not company wide.
It's restricted to the following divisions.
Microsoft's Sales, Marketing, Services, IT, & Operations Group (SMSG).
These are mainly their customer facing employees.
Do you think Apple would want one of their sales team or service techs using a WP7 device when talking to a client?

MS employees are free to purchase what ever products they want with their own money.
They are also not barred from using things like an iPod or iPhone while they are at work. (just not when talking to customers)
I know many MS employees and there are a few who prefer an iPhone over a WP7 phone. Nothing wrong with that.
Sure, they get the typical razzing for it at work, but what did they expect would happen?

 

[Rocko1]

Understandable.

Another non-story. In other news Ford car salesmen are asked not to wear Chevrolet labelled clothing while at work....

 

[linux2mac]

Fixed for you

Thanks for lightening the mood. However, I am going to have to disagree because there is no way anyone can say with a straight face that Windows is first-rate, stable, and secure. You see, I have used Windows extensively in enterprise having been employed at a Fortune 100 MS shop developing enterprise applications. I have witnessed numerous Windows shortcomings first hand in enterprise and at home. I will not be surprised if my former billion dollar company converts to Mac.

Why Apple will Crush Microsoft in the Post-PC Era
http://www.cultofmac.com/152080/why-apple-will-crush-microsoft-in-the-post-pc-era/

 

[alent1234]

That's the stupidest thing I've heard. Picture yourself as the CEO of Coca Cola. How would you feel if you saw your employees drinking Pepsi on the job? If the people who work for you don't demonstrate loyalty to your brand, then get rid of them.

if your own employees prefer the competition than something is wrong with your products

 

[samcraig]

Thanks for lightening the mood. However, I am going to have to disagree because there is no way anyone can say with a straight face that Windows is first-rate, stable, and secure. You see, I have used Windows extensively in enterprise having been employed at a Fortune 100 MS shop developing enterprise applications. I have witnessed numerous Windows shortcomings first hand in enterprise and at home. I will not be surprised if my former billion dollar company converts to Mac.

That's nice. My personal experience working on both platforms is that both have their pluses and minues. Both OSes have bugs, crash, memory leaks, glitches and anything else you might experience. Machines and OSes are not infallible. And quite frankly - both OSes (in my personal experience) have been about equal as far as performance.

UI preference is subjective and a personal preference. But as for stability, etc - I wouldn't rank one above the other.

 

[Makos62]

It is totally understandable, and yet amusing. Makes you wonder if there was corporate gossip that new iPads were being purchased all around?

 

[Rocko1]

That's the stupidest thing I've heard. Picture yourself as the CEO of Coca Cola. How would you feel if you saw your employees drinking Pepsi on the job? If the people who work for you don't demonstrate loyalty to your brand, then get rid of them.

Yep. That's the problem with most people, they can't see beyond their primal instincts-me want product-me not get why me boss no like me use said product-no one tell me what i do.

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if your own employees prefer the competition than something is wrong with your products

Not the point in the slightest. No one cares what the employee wants to use. MS doesn't want to spend it's own money on other products. End of story. If you are a MS employee and don't agree, you can quit.

 

[StrudelTurnover]

I remember reading a blog post by an ex-MS guy who went to work as a Google Evangelist. At Google, he switched to a MacBook Pro and love it. He'd never used a Mac before.

That's fine, but that's not because he worked at Google. Google doesn't care about platforms (and judging by Picasa's evolution, they certainly don't care about OSX... I would rather Quicksilver was still in development instead of stealing him for the Google Search Box) Anyway, nothing prevented that ex-MS guy from walking out and buying a Mac on a Saturday afternoon. He likely wasn't in circles that made it pertinent to have one for work or home.

Also, Microsoft doesn't make laptops, and Windows runs fine on a MBP. I have always preferred MacBooks to Thinkpads, but since Bootcamp that's a hardware choice first and foremost to me. Parallels was ok, but no longer practical for my needs.

I don't think it's healthy to keep your employees in a bubble.
How can MS compete with Apple effectively if they don't really know the Apple user experience?

No, but it is practical to incentivise your employees to use your own product, as a means of testing, iteration, feedback, and yes loyalty. And again, we're talking about company funds and department expense accounts. The average Microsoftie gets paid rather well, and are about the biggest tech geeks you'll ever find. It's also not 41,000 peoples' job to understand the competitor's user experience. Some of those people stare at text editors and spreadsheets all day. They don't need to use iWork to do that just because the templates are prettier.

Other than some Ballmer hyperbole, nothing prevents anyone owning anything. The top public-facing people from Xbox discuss their iPads, iPhones, Macs, and Windows Phones constantly on their podcast. Often followed by a chorus of ignorant "wtf M$ lets you guys use macs?" comments, but less so these days...

 

[jayfehr]

You'd think Microsoft would want a few of all of their competitor's products around. How else to know how your product compares and where you need to improve

MS didn't invest. That was a result of a settlement on a patent which included MS also agreeing to support Office and making IE the default browser on Macs. The media, like they are apt to do, phrased it as MS saving Apple (which it pretty much did) but the settlement wasn't charity or an investment, it was the result of a lawsuit.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/stop-the-lies-the-day-that-microsoft-saved-apple/7036

 

[Robertus]

Wait, a MS employee is being paid from MS' company funds and yet isn't allowed to purchase a rival product out of curiosity or preference?

Will this mean in the future a hourly-earning Walmart employee cannot buy anything from Target or a Walmart competitor because he/she is being paid with Walmart's money?

That does not help the economy at all.

 

[rjohnstone]

Wait, a MS employee is being paid from MS' company funds and yet isn't allowed to purchase a rival product out of curiosity or preference?

Will this mean in the future a hourly-earning Walmart employee cannot buy anything from Target or a Walmart competitor because he/she is being paid with Walmart's money?

That does not help the economy at all.

Where is a good face palm image when you need one?

 

[Steve121178]

You see, I have used Windows extensively in enterprise

Elaborate on 'extensively'? From what I remember, you didn't even touch Windows 7 until it was 18+ months old.

 

[jterp7]

It is totally understandable, and yet amusing. Makes you wonder if there was corporate gossip that new iPads were being purchased all around?

its very amusing actually. A friend of mine's husband works for Msoft and she is fiercely anti-Apple. Given that all of their family income comes from Msoft it makes sense, but its still funny nonetheless. Ironically, this isn't a problem for Apple, i.e. would they be mad at apple employees for owning an Xbox/PS3? Or on the mobile front a 3ds or Vita?

 

[AppleScruff1]

You do understand that Microsoft isn't making employees pick one or the other ultimately. They are saying they will not pay for competing products from their budget. Employees can buy whatever they want and use whatever they want. Just not on the company dime.

If you worked for an airline - do you think the company would pay for business travel on another airline. Or do you think they would restrict employees to flying their own airline if they were footing the bill. No different.

If you worked for motorola - would you expect motorola to pay for employees buying samsung phones?

If you worked at McDonald's - would you expect the company to pay for lunches bought at Burger King?

Excellent analogies. This article shouldn't have even been posted here, it's merely a sensationalist headline. But of course Apple probably pays for their employees Samsung phones.

 

[dgree03]

Thanks for lightening the mood. However, I am going to have to disagree because there is no way anyone can say with a straight face that Windows is first-rate, stable, and secure. You see, I have used Windows extensively in enterprise having been employed at a Fortune 100 MS shop developing enterprise applications. I have witnessed numerous Windows shortcomings first hand in enterprise and at home. I will not be surprised if my former billion dollar company converts to Mac.

Why Apple will Crush Microsoft in the Post-PC Era
http://www.cultofmac.com/152080/why-apple-will-crush-microsoft-in-the-post-pc-era/

But it is first rate, its the worlds #1 OS by a LOOOONG shot.. business depend on it to run there fortune 100/500 businesses, and no other OS can touch its compatibility with multiple pieces of hardware and software apps
Its stable, but of course it has bugs
I never said it was secure in the strong sense i believe you are saying. I said that it is malware vulnerable. Again, so is any OS. Windows is a secure as you want it to be.

 

[axonic labs]

Applies to both Apple and Microsoft, they can't compete/copy if they live in a bubble. That's all I was saying.

And I guess Apple has never copied anything either (notifications in iOS anyone?), right? Sheesh... some posters are so blindly biased it's unreal.

 

[charlituna]

You know things are bad when you have to force employees to not buy your competitors products with company money.

These are employees whose job is to sell Microsoft products to clients. It actually makes sense that they be forced to use the products they are selling to insure some level of real user knowledge and understanding.

And it's only a block on company money. They can use whatever the heck they want at home bought with their own funds.

I'm sure Apple does the same thing. Especially now that they removed those old Windows CE handheld paying scanners from the floor. You can bet that the stores are using Macs for their inventory rooms, tech rooms etc. If there's a manager cell phone for emergencies, it's an iPhone and so on.

 

[waloshin]

What are you guys children?

Its called business.

How many Microsoft operating computer do you think Apple buys a year?
Likely none so why should it be different for Microsoft?

 

[StrudelTurnover]

Where is a good face palm image when you need one?

 

[IJ Reilly]

You're completely missing the point. This has nothing to do with internal creativity or being shielding from Apple. It has everything to do with Microsoft wanting employees "eating their own dogfood."

It's nothing new. It's very commonplace. The most controversial aspect of this is the "sensationalist" headline/article on this site.

Sure, every company wants their employees to buy their own products. The real story here is that Microsoft has to require it. I'm going to guess that this rule isn't needed at Apple.

 

[charlituna]

Does Apple not have a similar policy in Cupertino?

Probably. But it's also likely moot since Apple most likely supplies their workers with whatever computers etc they need to do their jobs out of the company's own products. And as long as someone isn't yanking out their personal HTC during a sales meeting Apple probably doesn't care what they use outside of work bought with their own money.

 

[samcraig]

Sure, every company wants their employees to buy their own products. The real story here is that Microsoft has to require it. I'm going to guess that this rule isn't needed at Apple.

You - like MR, is trying to make something out of this story that simply isn't there.

It's simple. Microsoft doesn't care what its employees do with their own money. But if that employee wants Microsoft to PAY for the equipment - then they can only purchase something authorized by Microsoft.

And I'm going to guess that Apple won't foot the bill for any of its employees to purchase non-Apple devices except if required specifically for their job requirements.

Again - this is a non-story and commonplace.

 

[testerdennis]

According to the email, employees of that group at Microsoft are now prohibited from buying Apple products such as the Mac and iPad using COMPANY FUNDS.

Read the story !!!! They are not telling their employees not to buy Apple products with their own money. It blows my mind on this forum that people don't even take time to read the story.

 

[samcraig]

According to the email, employees of that group at Microsoft are now prohibited from buying Apple products such as the Mac and iPad using COMPANY FUNDS.

Read the story !!!! They are not telling their employees not to buy Apple products with their own money. It blows my mind on this forum that people don't even take time to read the story.

People see what they want to see. It happens a lot here. It's frustrating as well. They either don't read the article or don't read the thread - and then post ignorantly. And it's even more - dare I say - pathetic - when they try and be clever after dozens of posts which have either said the same, etc.

People should both read and think more before hitting "submit reply."

 

[SlugBlanket]

Reasonable Policy

I think it's a very reasonable policy especially given that there is a very publicly perceived animosity between the two camps, whipped up usually by people referred to "fanboys" and in many instances by Apple, Android implementors and Microsoft themselves. I can't think of any other business space where the fanatics of either side have had their prejudices become a fact of everyday life for the rest of us. You just don't seem to get the same reaction between say Audi & BMW or Ford & GM. Microsoft just don't want business headlines continually whipped up stating things like "Microsoft employees prefer Apple Products".

From a business point of view, I wouldn't want my employees using my money to buy competitor products that I can provide an alternative to. I would much prefer that my business use my own products to further my own business goals.

What isn't clear from the article is if Microsoft also has a ban on purchasing Android phones/tablets for business use. If they don't then its quite justified to stick the boot in