Apple, IBM Enterprise Mobility Pact Driven by Mutual Need

Apple (AAPL) and IBM (IBM) last week pledged to work together for each other’s benefit in a new enterprise mobility initiative to build industry-specific business apps for iOS-based mobile devices.

The two companies, who have tried to work together before to no avail—albeit under different circumstances—fluffed up details of their association using the words “landmark,” “exclusive” and “radical.” But what makes this arrangement different is they need one another to mine the business mobility market more effectively than they can on their own.

Accordingly, IBM pledged to:

Apple said it will bring to the party new AppleCare service and support offering tailored to the needs of enterprise customers.

And, as part of their enterprise mobility collaboration, IBM gains access to resell iPhones and iPads to its corporate customers.

IBM will house the new iOS mobile solutions in its MobileFirst for iOS Solutions business apps portfolio. Applications targeting the retail, healthcare, banking, travel and transportation, telecommunications and insurance industries will be available this fall, the companies 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,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive. “This is a radical step for enterprise and something that only Apple and IBM can deliver.”

IBM rolled out its MobileFirst program early in 2013, with a goal to catch the mobility wave as it crests to the enterprise where the real money is—in the transformation of businesses to fully mobile enterprises, spanning application development, security, analytics and cloud-based services. While the vendor is no stranger to mobile development and mobility services, laying claim to nearly 300 wireless-related patents and a number of mobile acquisitions in the past few years, its MobileFirst has lacked a springboard platform.

“This alliance with Apple will build on our momentum in bringing these innovations to our clients globally, and leverages IBM’s leadership in analytics, cloud, software and services,” said Ginni Rometty, IBM chairman, president and chief executive.

Charles King, Pund-IT principal analyst, wrote in a review of the deal:

“[Apple’s and IBM’s] widely divergent paths have rejoined for a pair of fairly simple reasons: 1) IBM firmly understands the growing, critical importance of mobile endpoint devices, but the company’s back-end-focused strategy lacked a critical conduit into end users, and 2) While iPhones and iPads are wildly popular among consumers, including those involved in workplace BYOD programs, Apple has failed to craft a workable, convincing strategy for enterprise customers and markets. With that context, how does the new partnership between IBM and Apple look? Pretty impressive, overall.”

The “exclusive” part of Apple’s and IBM’s mobile arrangement is a curious one, suggesting that neither company considered Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows Phone nor Google’s (GOOG) Android, with its 80 percent market share, a suitable platform for their collective enterprise mobility plans nor will they in the future.