According to a new report from Forrester, the use of Macintosh computers in the enterprise is rising, but support for Macs isn’t. Analyst David K. Johnson and his co-authors call on IT to repeal the ban on Macs.

The report cites a Forrester Forrsights Hardware Survey that found a 22% increase in employee-owned Mac use at enterprises, even though 41% of these same enterprises claim that Macs aren’t allowed on their corporate networks from work or from home.

I’m not a Mac user and I’m no fan of Apple, but I’ve been making the case for some time now that the slow growth of Mac use in the enterprise is significant. The rapid growth of iPads and iPhone in the enterprise may be the Trojan horse than lets Macs in the gates.

IT staff that I’ve talked to believe that although it’s cheaper to buy Windows PCs from companies like Dell and HP, Macs have a lower total cost of ownership. I’m not sure that’s the case, but the perception is certainly there. Forrester confirms that perception. The report states that Mac users claim they have fewer problems with their computers.

More importantly, more employees are using Macs at home and are demanding to use Apple products at work. Johnson agrees, and suggests that supporting Macs will help key employees happy.

Services Angle

Cloud services and virtualization aren’t making desktop operating systems obsolete, but they are making it possible for IT to give users more flexibility. It’s already possible to manage OSX access control through Active Directory and if you access your work through a Web browser and can virtualize any key Windows-only applications, why not use a Mac? Cost is the most likely answer, but millions of people are willing to shell out the extra cash to get a Mac. And there are a few Mac-only productivity apps – such as Skitch and OmniFocus – that users swear by.

Letting employees who wish to use Macs do so could be a competitive advantage. Developers in particular are hard to hire these days, and have been noted Mac adopters.