Even after the dramatic resurgence of the Mac platform since the late 1990s, most businesses today still use Windows PCs. There is still the prevailing  misconception that, for general business, Windows is the better choice whereas, the Mac is a better choice for home users, or for creative endeavors.  As an Apple Consultant, I see every day that this old myth is wrong.  The Mac is great for business.  In fact, you can run your whole business on a Mac.

There is a growing number of small and medium sized businesses (and even some large ones) that are adopting the Mac as their primary computing platform.  These companies have found that the Mac is just as capable of running their accounting, email and messaging, file sharing, and web services.  There are several great accounting software titles available for the Mac [Macworld Review].  These include Quickbooks from Intuit, and MYOB AccountEdge.  For businesses who are seeking to avoid the high licensing and maintenance costs associated with Microsoft Exchange, my recommendation is Kerio Connect 7 (formerly Kerio Mail Server).    Mac OS X Server’s file sharing capabilities are excellent, even in mixed computing environments.  Since 2003′s release of Mac OS X Server v. 10.3, Mac OS X Server has had the capability of serving as a primary domain controller for Windows PCs.  Mac OS X Server leverages industry standard LDAP (lightweight directory access protocol), and Kerberos services to provide secure authentication services to both Mac and Windows PCs.  Apple calls its implementation of LDAP Open Directory.   Mac and Windows PCs can bind directly to Open Directory, which enables the server to host home directories for end users, and allow each user to access all of the share points and services that he or she has been authorized to access.  Mac OS X Server offers a much simpler interface for which to manage the server, and all of its services.

*Kerio Mail Server has been renamed Kerio Connect. Many new features have been added since the time this entry was written.

One of the few drawbacks to using a Mac in a business environment has been the lack of a solid, business class groupware email, calendar, and contacts solution.  With the release of Mac OS X Snow Leopard (10.6), Apple has introduced built in support for Exchange, but for small businesses who are concerned about cost of deployment, and maintaining the solution once it has been deployed, Exchange is not always the best choice.  Why should an all Mac office deploy a Windows server just for email?

Two years ago, when I left Apple to become an Apple Consultant, I was introduced to Kerio Mail Server by the new company that I was working for.  I was impressed that my email, contacts, and calendars could easily be synced between my Mac, and any other computer that I wanted to configure with my Kerio account.  In the Summer of 2008, Kerio added full iPhone support which allowed my contacts, and calendars to stay synced with my Mac.  If I ever found myself without access to my Mac, or my iPhone, Kerio Mail Server’s webmail feature had everything that I needed.  All of my contacts, calendars, and email were there.

Although I have worked with a lot of customers who run all Mac offices, most have been a mix and Mac and Windows PCs.  Mac OS X Server provides a really great email solution, but it doesn’t have a true cross platform groupware features.  That’s where Kerio Mail Server comes in.  For small businesses who need cross platform groupware features, Kerio Mail Server (KMS) is a great solution.  Kerio Mail Server runs on Mac OS X Server, Windows Server, and on Linux.  It has full support for Open Directory, and Active Directory, and it allows businesses to run LDAP services on one kind of server (Mac or Windows), and Kerio Mail Server on another server.  One deployment that I worked on involved setting up Mac OS X Server with KMS, but the user accounts were stored in Active Directory on a Windows Server.  This enabled the customer to easily integrate Mac OS X Server into their network without having to make major changes to their existing server/network configuration.