DEBJIT SAHA // Giants of the world unite! Well, all right, it wasn’t exactly a clarion call but two biggies of the tech world – Apple and IBM — did agree to join hands in July this year. The new IBM MobileFirst for iOS solutions will be built in an exclusive collaboration that draws on the distinct strengths of each company: IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities, with the power of more than 100,000 IBM industry and domain consultants and software developers behind it, fused with Apple’s legendary consumer experience, hardware and software integration and developer platform. The exclusive agreement in place between the two companies is that IBM will develop more than 100 industry-specific enterprise solutions for Apple’s two products that put it on the world gadget stage – iPhone and iPad. Cloud services will be optimised for iOS, including device management, security, analytics and mobile integration. A new AppleCare service and support offering tailored to the needs to an enterprise and, four, new packaged offerings from IBM for device activation, supply and management. Apart from this, the Big Blue will also manage the distribution of iPhones and iPads that comes equipped with these solutions.
As Tim Cook, CEO, Apple said, “For the first time ever we’re putting IBM’s renowned big data analytics at iOS users’ fingertips, which opens up a large market opportunity for Apple. This is a radical step for enterprise and something that only Apple and IBM can deliver.”
As soon as the news broke, the marketplace was abuzz with excitement, media dissecting the fallouts of the deal, experts waxing opine about the two companies and market indicators showing their consent – for Apple shares, it meant a rise by about 1.5 per cent in the after-hours trade, while IBM was up by 1.8 per cent postannouncement. The coming months will see how the two once-rival companies change the synergies of the space and work together. That both companies need each other is an obvious statement. Apple may still be creating a buzz when it comes to the iPhone, but its iPad sales are not a pretty picture. IBM, on the other hand, needs more traction when it comes to increasing its brand equity in the consumer segment – one where Apple leads.
The applications that IBM provides for iOS will be Apple-exclusive. This means that once Apple gets a foothold in a particular enterprise, its in-house software development will have to be focused on the iOS. According to IBM, “The landmark agreement aims to redefine the way work will get done, address key industry mobility challenges and spark true mobile-led business change.”
In my opinion, this would be a boost for app developers in the enterprise space as they can now cater to uncharted markets where enterprise-level data would be needed for certain apps to functions, such as the mission-critical factory and machinery status apps. These kind of apps would have not been possible earlier without the support of a particular organisation's support with internal IT. The advertising market is going to benefit in a great way from this deal. Companies that now partner with IBM to integrate the iPad and iPhone offerings into their systems can look forward to newer sources of revenue right from their employees, kind of a circle jerk, but yes, it might actually work in areas such as pushing work-related perks and offers and discounted deals — the possibilities are endless.
For Apple, this is definitely a win because its rival Android is going to feel the heat when it comes to app downloads in countries such as the US where Apple is already the market leader in smart devices. This deal would only mean more new consumers and an increased number of app downloads for Apple and this makes things only worse for the Mountain-view based search giant Google when it comes to usage shares of mobile platforms.
SHUVO BRAHMACHARI // The IBM Apple deal on the surface seems a natural thing to do, but it has deeper connotations, both from business and technology standpoints. Rising above the anti-IBM rhetoric that Apple indulged in years back, Apple seems to have reconciled to the looming reality that a “Jobsless”, directionless, balancesheet is not getting it anywhere, excuse the pun.
IBM, on the other hand, can only envy the consumer reach the gizmo-savvy Apple has when it comes to phones, music players and tablets. I’m sure IBM is aware of Apple’s limitations and restricted platform policies and vice versa. The two companies have been rivals for years and have even tried to work together in the past, but it hadn’t worked more due to technical limitations than economics.
A lot of questions remain. Will IBM let Apple become more enterprise-friendly? I really don’t think so. Apple products have been valued highly by businesses worldwide, primarily because of its price and because the company’s offerings are perceived to be more suitable for the younger generation. Even the much fancied iPhone took a beating over the cheaper Android-based phablets for business use. Business users made their choice clear when they switched from their Blackberrys, too. Whether it was the price, the iPhone’s smaller screen, or the Apple teeny-bopper/ socialite image is anybody’s guess. Can IBM’s MobileFirst platform transform all that? I don’t think so.
While I’ve seen a lot of opinion floating around that iOS may become the enterprise desktop computing environment, it is extremely unlikely that IBM will consider abandoning an adept and flexible Windows 8 platform, which is a big leap from its earlier, clunky versions. There has also been a lot of hype about Watson power. If it really is the next best thing after Android, shaking hands with Apple won’t help IBM’s marketing cause. It could do well marketing it on its own and not let a bunch of confused corporates bigwigs be forced to make a choice between products that they’re used to and those that don’t yet have a business image, but are based on a futuristic, but unproven integration platform.
While it may do well in the retail market, enterprise has always been cautious. Also, the competition hasn’t exactly been idle with HP and Google teaming up with mobile services such as Enterprise Siri, which will allow business users to fetch data from any device. Where Apple really stands to gain is in the cloud space with IBM cloud services optimized for iOS and leveraging IBM’s data and analytics capabilities. But the question still remains: will businesses buy iOS products? The bottomline is that it is one of those deals with immense possibilities, but also carries huge market risks, especially in the enterprise sector. Will it work? In my opinion, that’s unlikely. I can see the writing on the wall. Unless Apple pulls a marketing coup, it’s the HPs and Oracles of the world that stand to gain in the enterprise platforms. Oh, and did I forget to mention one little company named Google? My apologies.