If you can't beat 'em, ban 'em!

We recently found out about an internal memo from MSFT that we believe may be real. The basic concept is that MSFT will not pay for employees to purchase iFruit products with MSFT money. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that MSFT would try to prevent any of their money from going to the iFruit company, it actually makes sense. To me it’s the same as Ford buying Government Motors cars for their executives to use on company business. This may be one of the few times I actually agree with MSFT!

Here’s the memo:

From: Alain Crozier
Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2012 1:17 PM
Subject: Apple Purchases

Within SMSG we are putting in place a new policy that says that Apple products (Mac & iPad) should not be purchased with company funds.

In the US we will be turning off the Apple products from the Zones Catalog next week, which is the standard purchasing mechanism for these products.

Outside of the US — we will work with your finance and procurement teams to send the right message and put the right processes in place.

The current purchase levels are low, however we recognize there will be a bit of transition work associated with this.  Details of historical purchases in the US are provided in the attachment to help understand the changes that will be needed.Thank you for your support and leadership on this.