Apple and IBM’s enterprise partnership is resulting in its first outward-facing software today, with new apps in IBM’s MobileFirst for iOS making their way to iPhones and iPads at partner enterprises. These include apps built for Citi, Air Canada, Sprint and Banorte, and they allow for various functions covering flight planning, financial advice, customer retention, government case worker support and sales assistance, to name a few.
This first fruit of the IBM/Apple partnership makes it clear that the app side of the equation is going to be about providing analytics-driven, secure software that covers a range of industry verticals, and that can be tweaked to suit the needs of any particular customer organization. The list of these initial apps also includes software that focuses on the insurance industry, retail and telecommunication in addition to those listed above.
The apps make up just one par of the IBM and Apple partnership, which also includes mobile device management, AppleCare tech support and device fleet sales. Apple provides more detail about the specific capabilities of the new IBM MobileFirst apps in its official press release.