Warning: Declaration of plugin_findreplace::addPluginSubMenu() should be compatible with mijnpress_plugin_framework::addPluginSubMenu($title, $function, $file, $capability = 10, $where = 'plugins.ph...') in /home/pg4b1yzvrqqo/domains/test.drivingsalesnews.com/html/wp-content/plugins/find-replace/find_replace.php on line 17

Warning: Declaration of plugin_findreplace::addPluginContent($links, $file) should be compatible with mijnpress_plugin_framework::addPluginContent($filename, $links, $file, $config_url = NULL) in /home/pg4b1yzvrqqo/domains/test.drivingsalesnews.com/html/wp-content/plugins/find-replace/find_replace.php on line 17
Apple Announces Strategic Partnership With IBM | DrivingSales News

Apple Announces Strategic Partnership With IBM

July 19, 2014 0 Comments

apple-logo-650x400

Seemingly putting their long-standing competition in the past, Apple has announced a strategic partnership with IBM involving the transfer of over 150 of IBM’s enterprise and IT apps and tools to Apple platforms natively, as well as plans for IBM to start selling Apple iPhones and iPads to its business clients throughout the world.  The collaboration is expected to bring more than 100 apps with IBM providing the cloud services.

CNBC interviewed Apple CEO Tim Cook and IBM CEO Virginia Rometty, who both told the network that the two companies are like “puzzle pieces” that fit together perfectly.  “We knew that we needed to have a partner that deeply understood each of the verticals,” Cook said.  “That had scale, that had a lot of dirt under their fingernails, so to speak, from really understanding each of these verticals and we found a kindred spirit in IBM.”

The idea appears to be combining Apple’s consumer device know-how with IBM’s sterling enterprise reputation, and the possibilities of this partnership are massive.  Apple will gain access to IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities, with the company stating that the apps that it produces with IBM will be developed “from the ground up for iPhone and iPad.”  The apps will supplement new cloud services aimed at iOS specifically, including security and analytics solutions as well as device management tools for large-scale MDM deployments.

Due in large part to the success of the iPad and iPhone, Apple has already made headway on its own in the enterprise.  More and more people have started to bring their own devices to their workplace over time, and the continued efforts toward the acceptance of Apple products for business users increases the threat for BlackBerry to become a thing of the past.

Industry analyst Tim Bajarin points out that this is a blow to both Google and Microsoft in terms of the enterprise aspirations of both of their mobile platforms.  The collaboration between Apple and IBM seems guaranteed to provide continued growth for the two companies in this key market.  “This is not good news for the Android crowd,” Bajarin wrote.

Google announced a key partnership of its own this year regarding its enterprise mobility efforts, explaining how it would be bringing Knox to all of Android thanks to the help of Samsung.  The idea is to offer a way to separate personal and work data on Android smartphones and tables in a similar way to how they can be separated on BlackBerry 10 devices using “BlackBerry Balance”.  Industry experts, however, are suggesting that the partnership between Apple and IBM will turn out to be a more far-reaching overture than what Google will be able to accomplish with Android.  Bajarin wrote that, “Google, and especially Samsung, had been on a course to try and get more Android devices into IT.  However, this Apple/IBM deal will make that very, very difficult now and, if the deal works as designed, it could pretty much upstage any opportunity Android devices have in any future enterprise programs.”

Filed in: Industry News • Tags: , ,

About the Author:

The DrivingSales News team is dedicated to breaking the relevant and the tough stories affecting car dealers. Have questions for DrivingSales News? Reach the team at news@drivingsales.com.

    Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /home/pg4b1yzvrqqo/domains/test.drivingsalesnews.com/html/wp-includes/class-wp-comment-query.php on line 399