IBM MobileFirst Program Focuses on Partner Enablement

Partner enablement has become a central component of nearly every major IBM (NYSE: IBM) product or solution announcement of late, particularly those surrounding analytics, mobile and cloud technologies.

As you might expect, embedded in IBM’s new MobileFirst portfolio–mobility security, analytics, application development, cloud-based services and partner enablement all housed under one banner—are offerings for channel partners and developers that could key the overall initiative. With MobileFirst extending past mobile application and device management to application and solution development, IBM believes sales opportunities for channel partners and application developers will emerge.

The Ready for IBM MobileFirst offer is an expansion of IBM’s Software Value Plus inventive program with enablement, certification, skill-building and training to help channel partners compile the appropriate skills to deliver mobile solutions to customers.

And, in a collaboration with AT&T (NYSE: T), developers can augment their mobile apps by using IBM’s Worklight mobile application platform to access the carrier’s APIs in the cloud. (AT&T’s new Partner Exchange program grants solution providers access to its APIs to facilitate solutions building in mobility managed services, cloud and networking that fully integrate with AT&T’s IP network.)

IBM’s idea with MobileFirst is 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. The vendor is no stranger to mobile development and mobility services, laying claim to 270 wireless-related patents, 10 mobile acquisitions in just the past four years and the experience of working with 1,000 customers to transform their businesses to mobile enterprises.

MobileFirst doesn’t actually include any new products but it does include customized IBM software and new mobile services:

“To date, mobile computing has been dominated by discussions of new smartphones, operating systems, games and apps,” said Robert LeBlanc, IBM Middleware Software senior vice president. “But enterprises have yet to tap into the potential of mobile business.”