Apple Announces Huge Partnership with IBM

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In an eminently logical announcement, Apple and IBM have announced an exclusive partnership that aligns the strengths of each company to deliver solutions to the enterprise market. The partnership will enable IBM’s 100,000-strong sales force to deliver enterprise solutions on Apple’s mobile devices.

Apple IBMThis is another step in Apple’s increasing focus on enterprise which already sees Apple CEO Tim Cook reporting that 98 percent of the Fortune 500 and over 92 percent of the Global 500 are using iOS devices in their business today.

Announcing the partnership, Cook said: “iPhone and iPad are the best mobile devices in the world and have transformed the way people work. 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.”

His counterpart Ginni Rometty, IBM Chairman, President and CEO, said: “Mobility – combined with the phenomena of data and cloud – is transforming business and our industry in historic ways, allowing people to re-imagine work, industries and professions. 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.”

This is not the first partnership between the two organisations: in 1991, together with Motorola, they agreed to collaborate in a number of areas, including the development and usage of a new RISC-based processor, the PowerPC. This chip drove Macs for many years before the transition to Intel in 2005. The latest announcement has potentially even more promise of long term success.

Go Apple and IBM Press Release

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Go IBM Announcement