As per vice president of enterprise mobile for IBM Software Group Phillip Buckellew, the Apple-IBM agreement that was recently announced empowers the direct sales force of IBM to resell Apple hardware, which used to be off-limits to them before.
Apple said that the Apple-IBM deal has both pros and cons and it is eager to know more on how the IBM community will be affected. Buckellew said they are still working on these details now.
Another possible impact of the Apple-IBM partnership is employees expecting they can use their own devices on the workplace. Fifteen to 30 percent of tech spending is spent on departments other than the IT dept. and it is a sign that employees in a lot of organizations are acquiring devices that they are not authorized to purchase. There are many BYOD Apple devices, and according to CEO Tim Cook, over 80 percent of the commercial smartphone market in the United States are iPhones and 70 percent of the commercial tablet market are iPads.
IBM is supposed to be the expert in creating analytics apps, but Apple still needs to decide whether or not it will allow IBM to sell these in the App Store. It is also unclear whether or not IBM is about to forgo its pride and make these analytics apps simple and fit for modern users.
Analysts say that Apple will sell more iPhones and iPads into the enterprise, but based on the aforementioned figures, the devices are already a success and they would continuously grow even without IBM. The U.S. government intends to roll them out.
"If they are providing enterprise-class solutions with IBM at the top level, then SMBs will view Apple as 'good enough to play with the big boys, so good enough for us.' That's the greatest effect that I think smaller channel partners will see," Apple partner Tech Superpowers CEO Michael Oh from Boston said. Adding that the deal gives Apple legitimacy in the enterprise.
Buckellew said that this partnership aims to provide organizations with compelling experiences on devices to encourage employee usage, lower costs and increase revenues.
