10 Important Facts to Know About the IBM-Apple Alliance
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IBM Intends to Resell Apple Mobile Devices
IBM will most likely make those devices available via its business partners, as well as its direct sales force. The devices will come loaded with applications the two companies develop. -
IBM Adds AppleCare to Portfolio
The deal presents a new service and support opportunity for IBM partners, who, by extension, will get to resell Apple service. -
Mobile Apps to Be Developed Using Apple Tools
The goal is to build applications that run natively on Apple platforms. The two programming languages used to develop these apps are Objective-C and Swift. -
Next-Gen Apple Mobile Devices Will Create Content
Currently, most Apple mobile devices are primarily used to consume content, but future devices will be used to create it as well. The line between tablets and PCs gets blurrier by the day. -
IBM Bluemix Emerges as a BaaS Platform
The value of IBM's $2 billion Softlayer acquisition increases substantially. IBM envisions using Bluemix running on IBM SoftLayer as a backend-as-a-service (BaaS) platform that exposes RESTful APIs. -
IBM Worklight Mobile App Dev Platform Gains Momentum
IBM acquired Worklight to build mobile applications in 2012. The battle with Oracle and SAP for control of emerging enterprise mobile platforms will intensify. -
IBM Big Data Analytics Provides Key Differentiator
Mobile is now a distribution channel for analytics. The goal is to embed access to big data analytics inside mobile apps. -
Governance and Security Become a Service
Partners will see emergence of APIs to invoke governance and security services exposed via IBM Bluemix cloud. By leveraging IBM CloudMix, the two companies will secure iOS in the enterprise -
Apple Siri Meets IBM Watson
One would presume this integration is inevitable—that IBM Watson speech recognition chats up Siri on Apple devices. -
Mobile First Means Re-engineering Enterprise Apps
Most enterprise apps operate in batch mode. Mobile applications generally require a real-time response from enterprise apps.
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MSPs Face Big Cybersecurity Talent Gap 
Why Tech Companies Are Eager to Invest in 5G 
The Problem With Partner Referral Programs 
Microsoft Taps Channel for Digital Business 
New Technologies Will Fuel Channel Opportunities 
Channel's Transition to the Cloud Requires More Time 
Microsoft's Cloud Channel Begins to Mature 
Defining MSPs' Goals, Challenges and Tools 
Why Metrics Matter to the Channel From a channel perspective, the power of the IBM mobile computing alliance with Apple comes down to the 100,000 IBM consultants that will soon be in the field promoting the development and use of Apple mobile applications. Apple claims that more than 98 percent of the Fortune 500 already use its devices. The challenge has been getting people to use those devices for anything more than reading reports and email. Working together, IBM and Apple plan to develop more than 100 mobile applications for businesses of all sizes that will run natively on Apple devices. That alliance is both a boon for the Objective-C and Swift programming languages developed by Apple and the IBM Worklight mobile application development platform that in the not-too-distant future is expected to be available on the IBM Bluemix cloud platform. In the meantime, IBM channel partners can look forward to years of modernizing legacy batch-oriented enterprise applications that now need to respond to mobile computing devices in real time. Here's a look at the deal.