IBM meets Design

In one of my previous posts, I talked about Microsoft's iPad version of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, and the company's aim to better position themselves within the mobile devices and tablet market. It seems like Microsoft isn't the only company taking advantage of Apple's already huge customer base of iPhone and iPad users.

In a press release, Apple announced a global partnership with International Business Machines (IBM) to work together to develop business applications for iPhone and iPad users. From the press release:

Apple® and IBM today announced an exclusive partnership that teams the market-leading strengths of each company to transform enterprise mobility through a new class of business apps—bringing IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities to iPhone® and iPad®.

The landmark partnership aims to redefine the way work will get done, address key industry mobility challenges and spark true mobile-led business change.

This partnership is significant because it gives IBM a big advantage in pushing its enterprise solutions onto mobile devices, while allowing Apple to extend its services to its existing customer base. Many of the commenters on my last post expressed the inability of Apple iPhone and iPads to replicate the experience of a desktop, especially when it comes to building models and spreading comps.

For those of you who have experience with using IBM's business analytics software, do you welcome this integration? What are some industries that you see this partnership targeting, and how successful will it be in disrupting the current industry practices?

Apple and IBM Forge Global Partnership to Transform Enterprise Mobility