Remember the legendary picture where Steve Jobs stood in front of the IBM logo to show his middle finger? And the era where Apple went after the Big Blue, who were making computers a really big deal, when Apple wanted to bring it to customers like you and me? Well, those things are now over. Apple and IBM just announced a new deal, which brings Enterprise Expansion of IBM’s mobile apps as well as Apple’s iPhones.
Both Apple and IBM’s CEOs, Tim Cook and Virginia Rometty announced this deal today, and revealed some more information to CNBC, that this deal has put the Puzzle Pieces together. This new deal is nothing small. Both the companies dominate in different areas. While IBM is not really a leader in mobile market, Apple is not really a huge deal with Enterprise customers. Until now.
In the interview to CNBC, Tim Cook said, “We knew that we needed to have a partner that deeply understood each of the verticals, 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.”
So now, we understand that IBM would be helping Apple push iPhones to enterprise customers. But what’s in it for IBM? Well, some native apps they have had. IBM has got a lot of data and analytics tools that are yet to see a really good app for mobile devices. But starting now, Apple would help them build the apps for IBM from ground up and will take advantage of the native APIs for iOS.
The first-hand industries both the companies are going after are the retail, healthcare, travel, telecommunication and insurance industries. These industries, that makes use of iOS devices and IBM’s tools will see new apps coming their way this fall from Apple. And the push will continue through 2015, and beyond.
But then, what about the customer support? Well, AppleCare for Enterprise will now operate 24×7 for the enterprise customers, and IBM will provide on-site support for these customers as well. This is not less than pampering the customers who badly need a really good experience with their applications they make use of, every single day at office.
The dawn of iOS 8 is nothing small. This is probably the biggest release the company has pushed to the customers and enterprise users ever. With over 4000 new APIs, iOS 8 is a perfect fit for any industry that we can ever imagine.
But what are their competitors doing? Well, they are already in the game. Unfortunately, they might have to do something quick before they lose market to Apple and IBM completely. Let’s wait until something interesting happens. And I’m pretty sure that Google and Microsoft are already having some morning meetings to sort this out. At least, that is what my friends are after from today.
And before you close this tab, don’t forget to read this note from Apple to IBM, decades ago:
