Bausch + Lomb started giving its sales reps iPads within days after the devices were on the shelves, and now the company is piloting Mac computers throughout the organization, reports Larry Dignan at ZDNet. The company's CIO, Alan Farnsworth, is a believer in making IT relevant, in part by making it cool and accommodating for users.

Bausch + Lomb was a corporate pioneer when it came to the iPad, and now it has 1,700 of the devices deployed. It has apps to showcase and demonstrate products, and it is testing the tablets in the manufacturing environment. Employees interacting the most with customers already have iPad 2s.  

Dignan notes that Bausch + Lomb provides an example of how Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) products have made their way into the heart of the enterprise. The company started with the iPhone, which set the stage for trying but the iPad, and now it is rolling out Macs. The Apple journey is part of Farnsworth's effort to support the technologies that employees want to use. 

"If you let people communicate at work like they do at home they will be more productive," he said. "We had iPhones before iPads and we ramped up with Apple once we started using the iPad."

Employees can still opt for a PC if they prefer, and some "try a Mac and have to learn a lot after 20 years on a PC. Some go back to the PC quickly," Farnsworth said. "But graphic intensive areas like engineering are going to Macs more. I expect the incoming generation of workers will want to stay in the Apple world."

For more:
- see Larry Dignan's article at ZDNet

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