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Will New Apple CEO Tim Cook Please CIOs?

By Don Reisinger on 2011-09-01


Tim Cook, Apple's former chief operations officer, took over as CEO of the company on Aug. 24 after Apple co-founder Steve Jobs resigned. Jobs, now the chairman of the board of directors at Apple, recommended Cook as the ideal choice to be his successor. For consumers, Apple’s decision to promote Tim Cook to CEO doesn’t change much. For years, Cook has been learning from Jobs, and by the look of things, he will continue along the same roadmap. In fact, Apple has made it abundantly clear to consumers that they won’t see any major changes now that Jobs is no longer leading the company. But what about CIOs and other IT decision-makers? For years now, the needs of the enterprise have taken a back seat at the consumer-driven Apple. But with a new CEO, might things change at Apple? Will the company become more CIO friendly than it has been in the past? Not a chance. Here are 10 reasons why:

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Cook Learned From Jobs
If Tim Cook could be summed up in a single phrase, it might be “Steve Jobs’ student.” Cook called Jobs a “mentor” in a recent email to employees. Considering that Jobs was hardly the most enterprise-friendly CEO, that doesn’t bode well for IT.

Status Quo
Although Tim Cook didn’t come out and say that he won’t play nice with CIOs, his email to employees indicated that he plans on maintaining the status quo at Apple. Cook ostensibly believes that the company's direction under Jobs was a good thing, and he doesn’t want to change that.

Jobs Remains Chairman
In this capacity, Jobs can exercise a ton of influence over his CEO (and all the other executives at the company). Jobs might not be CEO anymore, but he’s still very much a part of the decision-making process.

Look At Cook’s History
Cook was instrumental in Apple's development of consumer products. In fact, he once headed Apple’s Macintosh division -- the part of the company that might be considered the least enterprise-friendly.

Consider the Shareholders
The firm needs to constantly reassure investors that it knows what it’s doing and can continue to provide them with value. Over the years, Apple has achieved this with consumer-focused products. Given the pressure on Cook to keep profits up, why would he change a thing?

Changes Don't Come Overnight
In the next several years, Apple might just become the top enterprise computing provider, in spite of itself. If this happens, it's unlikely to be driven by a real enterprise-focused strategy, but rather a continuation of Apple's current approach, by which it enters the enterprise by sheer force of user demand.

The Steve Jobs Roadmap?
Jobs likely had a years-long product roadmap in place for Apple. And given his history, that product roadmap isn't likely to accommodate the needs of enterprise IT or CIOs.

Apple’s History Will be Cook's Guide
Apple has staked its strategy on the belief that the consumer market is central to its success, and all of its product designs and branding revolve around that. Like most CEOs, Cook will likely let history be his guide when he starts making decisions. The enterprise will be left out in the cold.

What the Corporate World Needs
CIOs are looking for the practical, reliable, scalable solutions that Apple simply won’t give them. Apple has a knack for frequent, news-making product updates. At this point, it appears CIOs and Apple very different ideas about what the enterprise needs.

Cook's Supporting Cast
Apple’s other top executives, including Jonathan Ive and Ron Johnson, have spent years refining consumer products under the leadership of Jobs, and with great success. Why would they stop now?

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