Apple and IBM announced a massive deal last night that could very well make the Mac the go-to business platform of choice.
The deal is really pretty simple. Apple brings its expertise in product design and consumer-friendly interfaces, as well as an install base of millions who refuse to leave their technology at home. IBM makes the back-end work and delivers secure, customized solutions for enterprise clients. In a lot of ways, it is a match made in heaven
The move quickly puts Apple in a position to pressure Google, which has been making inroads into the enterprise. Apple's BYOD play is strong, but there are still many more Android users out there. Factor in the growing popularity of Google Docs, cloud services, and even Chromebooks, and suddenly you have a lot of companies wondering why they are still paying for Microsoft Office licenses. As strong as Apple's productivity portfolio is, it has been deliberately consumer focused. Apple needed help to go pro, even if it is from an unlikely source.
Apple has made friends with old enemies before. In 1997, Microsoft invested $200 million in a then-struggling Apple. It even announced it would develop Office for the Mac. It seemed like charity. Or at the very least, a distraction to throw off Justice Department lawyers investigating the company for monopolistic practices. Then it made friends with Intel, moving from PowerPC processors to Intel x86 processors almost a decade ago.
It should be noted that Apple actually outlasted IBM in the PC wars. IBM sold off its PC division to Lenovo years ago, while Apple continued to quite profitably crank out new Mac models. Windows still dominates the desktop and laptop markets, but increasingly, no one cares. We now live in a world where the phone and tablet can do just about everything a laptop can as long as they are hooked up to the right apps and cloud services. That is where IBM will come in.
Not everyone is going to be happy about this deal, of course. Just this week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced the company was moving away from "devices and services" and towards "productivity and platforms." I don't quite understand what that means, but I'm pretty sure that keeping its legions of business customers was part of the strategy.
Likewise, this is a huge blow to Google and Samsung, which have been working hard to make businesses comfortable with Android in the enterprise. Bolt on IBM's world-class sales and support team and suddenly, "No One Ever Got Fired for Buying Apple."
There is something so classic about the end of the Apple/IBM feud. Both companies evolved to the point where they are no longer competitors. In fact, their businesses are very complementary.
The suits and creatives now know why they need each other. It is better for business.