ProApple+: Apple’s services push for professionals
I expect every part of Apple has been asked for their contribution to Apple’s recent services push. What could the Pro Applications team response be? Some fear that Final Cut Pro, Motion and Logic could be sold only on a subscription basis. There is another option.
It seems that Apple didn’t expect to make a new Mac Pro range. They thought the iMac Pro would be enough. Initially they thought that the lack of modularity would be fine if their new top of the range Mac had the most powerful CPUs, GPUs, the most memory, fastest storage and most black colouring.
A few months before release they realised that professionals didn’t want that tradeoff; Configurability is more important than a black mouse. As far as we know, that was when the new Mac Pro project started. Apple probably knew it would not be launched until 2019. They might have also known that the main story for Apple in 2019 would be services. Millions of people happily paying a regular amounts of money for online storage, music, TV, credit cards, games… All branded with an Apple ‘+’.
Services for those supporting professionals
How can Apple’s professional hardware and software lines fit into the Apple services narrative?
An answer is to build services into the new Mac Pro go-to-market strategy and provide a new store for those who want to be Apple consultants. Before direct hardware and software sales from Apple became the norm, professionals were used to leasing computers, subscribing to software and paying for ongoing support contracts — following the advice of the technology consultants they trust.
I suggest that part of Apple’s go to market strategy for professional computers, software and services is to establish the systems for consultants and value-added resellers to base their services for professionals on.
Subscribe to ‘Final Cut Pro as a Service’
Organisations don’t want to manage software licenses. They want a service which makes sure that their people have access to the tools they need. That means enough licenses for freelancers, for new employees and allowing for when people leave. Organisations of all sizes are used to regularly paying consultants to make sure their systems work and are safely up to date.
‘Final Cut Pro+’ (like Apple’s Filemaker Pro today) could be available to consultants and value-added resellers who could then include it in workflows tuned to the specific needs of businesses and organisations in certain market segments. At the moment they can’t include Final Cut Pro in an invoice line item. They have to tell the organisation to go to the Mac App Store to buy Final Cut from Apple. There is not enough margin to make money selling Apple hardware. With a new service from Apple, value-added resellers and consultants would be able to include ‘Final Cut Pro+’ as part of their post production solution, and manage leasing of Apple hardware and hardware from selected third parties.
Store for Apple Consultants
In their App Stores Apple make a point of keeping control over the customer relationship. Developers don’t get access to individual purchasers. One reason is user privacy. The other is to make sure developers with contact information don’t sell directly sell them applications which Apple hasn’t tested. They also might upsell more expensive apps without Apple getting a cut. In the case of a Store for Apple Consultants, a big difference would be that pro tools makers could get access to consultants and VARs who integrate professional ecosystems — in order to provide support and to more quickly learn how needs are changing. The buffer managing trust would change from Apple running the store to the consultant who has gained the trust of the client.
For consultants new to Apple or to the areas of post production they would like to support, the SfAC could also include AppleCare support services and industry-relevant training.
The SfAC would show that Apple understand that in order to get their support, Apple consultants and VARs need to make money too.
WorldWide Consultants Conference 2020?
Part of high-end users getting what they want from Apple is to appeal to what Apple needs. They need to feel they are making the world a better place. They do that for millions of consumers all over the world. Another group that Apple could support is those who want to help others using Apple services and products: consultants. There are hundreds of thousands of people who have the skills to start small businesses — to bet their working life — supporting all kinds of small business use of Apple technology. The big change would be to encourage thousands of small businesses worldwide with training, programmes, online forums and events: treating consultanst as they do software developers today.
If Apple trust consultants and those they rely on, it is likely that Apple will be trusted by them in return. A good way for Apple to support tens of thousands of new consultants — who can then encourage and support the use of Apple hardware, software and services to millions of people worldwide.
