Apple Still Courting the Enterprise with New Alliances

Kathryn Weldon – Research Director, Business Network and IT Services – Americas

Summary Bullets:

• An agreement between Apple and AT&T allows the operator to simplify customer enrollment, device configuration, activation, and MDM software integration

• An expanded agreement with Apple and SAP uses on-device machine learning to help customers create custom, intelligent iOS apps that use augmented reality (AR), and enhance business tasks

While Apple has been successfully courting enterprise buyers for many years with the iPhone and iPad, recent alliances suggest new ways for it to penetrate business accounts. Many businesses already appreciate Apple’s built-in security, while Android devices and laptops provide more variety and less of a vendor lock-in. MDM software for first-line device management and security is about the same on either platform today. So what are the kinds of agreements that Apple is making lately to fortify its position?