A new report from KACE, a systems management appliance company, says Mac OS X will make further inroads in the enterprise and will more than double its current market share. Vista’s failure and the growing popularity of Apple technology at home has paved the way for Mac adoption to push beyond its toehold in the enterprise and be taken seriously as an alternative operating system to Windows, the report says.

And with the advent of cross-platform management tools, more IT organizations are lifting their restrictions of support for non-Windows operating systems, allowing an increased freedom of choice. End users will respond and choose the technology with which they are familiar and have had positive experiences. Also the iPhone has taken its place among mission-critical business tools and have moved beyond simple e-mail, contacts and calendaring. This can only help Apple and the Mac in the enterprise market.

Speaking of the iPhone, last year Optus -- an Australian company that specializes in integrated telecommunications, delivering cutting-edge communications,information technology and entertainment -- has released the IP Index, its annual survey of corporate use of all forms of IP communications. It shows the iPhone, developed primarily as a consumer device, making very strong headway in enterprises against more established technologies.

The index was based on a survey, primarily online, of enterprise communications decision-makers in 232 organizations (not all Optus customers). Eighty percent of respondents were from private sector enterprises and 20 percent from government. They represented a broad spectrum of employee sizes, with 38% from large corporate/government entities with over 1,000 employees down to 16% with less than 200 employees.

Over half (57%) of those surveyed believe the iPhone 3G has some suitability to business. According to Optus, "The device's 3G credibility in the enterprise market is further enhanced by the 27 percent who see it as a device ideally suited to business use."

Optus adds that "this seemingly rapid acceptance in the business market suggests future years will see increased levels of Apple iPhone 3G adoption." Only 16 percent or respondents said the iPhone was a consumer device not suitable for business,

What's more, a December study by the Enterprise Desktop Alliance showed that 74% of respondents to an IT administrator survey expected to increase the number of Macs at their organization.

As I've said before, I think there'll be significant increases in the Mac market share this year. That will include the business/enterprise world, as well as the consumer space.