Apple and IBM have formally declared a partnership to improve the iPhone’s capabilities for enterprise customers. Prior to the announcement, Apple seemed to have intentionally shunned the enterprise market, very slowly bringing business-oriented features to its iOS devices in an attempt to maintain its consumer-friendly focus.
Bring Your Own Apple
Today’s bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend has forced many companies to spend millions on workarounds to enable employees to use company applications and systems on their chosen hardware. With this partnership, Apple opens the door for businesses to build and publish their own apps and services for the iPhone more easily while allowing employees to use their desired hardware and pre-installed apps. It will also give more control to IT specialists within organizations to support iOS devices, which in the past has required a trip to the Apple Store and talking to a business specialist. AppleCare for enterprise will be available 24/7 as well.
New Friends
Perhaps the biggest news of all is that Apple is actively partnering with a major technology developer that it intentionally shunned in a famous commercial over 30 years ago. Apple’s late CEO Steve Jobs was famous for avoiding partnerships with anyone or anything. Current CEO Tim Cook has proven to be more open-minded about pairing the company’s technology with complementary businesses.
Of course, anyone using an iPhone in a business setting—whether an IT staff member, executive, or average employee—should be extremely excited about the news. IBM already works with thousands of companies to provide data, services, and applications across multiple platforms; those who work in a midsized company or larger may see the benefits of this partnership very soon.
Both Apple and IBM have already published more information about their collaboration. What do you think? What opportunities would you like to see arise for your organization as a result of this partnership?
Image courtesy of Flickr
[cf]skyword_tracking_tag[/cf]