Ariel Zambelich/WIRED
Apple and IBM, once an unlikely duo, teamed up back in July to create business apps for iPhones and iPads. Now, this union has produced its first wave of apps, aimed at retailers, financial institutions, telecommunications services, insurance companies, airlines, and governments.
On Wednesday, the two companies detailed these apps and revealed the first IBM clients that will use them, including Citi, Air Canada, Sprint, and Banort. Organizations can customize IBM MobileFirst for iOS, as the suite is called, and they can link it to their own internal business services. According to IBM, security is a top priority, since the apps will store sensitive company data, and they’ll provide valuable analytics too.
“This is a big step for iPhone and iPad in the enterprise, and we can’t wait to see the exciting new ways organizations will put iOS devices to work,” Philip Schiller, Apple’s vice president of marketing, said in a press release.
Of course, iPhones and iPads are already used in the workplace, thanks to the “bring your own device” movement and other, less overt Apple programs. But Apple and IBM want to take this further—and improve their own prospects in the process. IBM has realized it can now longer make money selling hardware, so it’s towardssoftware and data analytics, and though Apple is now a king of the hardware world, it must find new ways to boost growth, especially given its less than stellar iPad sales in Q4.
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