Apple and IBM Introduce Ten Business-Focused 'IBM MobileFirst' iOS Apps

Following a partnership announced over the summer, Apple and IBM have today introduced the first in a line of mobile business apps that target a wide range of industries and businesses. Dubbed "IBM MobileFirst for iOS", the suite of ten apps hopes to "bring IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities to iPhone and iPad users."

With the initial batch including apps focused on the finance, air-travel, and banking industries, IBM also confirmed a few clients including Citi, Air Canada, Sprint, and Banorte will support the MobileFirst program starting today.

“What we’re delivering aims directly at the new quest of business—smart technologies that unlock new value at the intersection of big data and individual engagement,” said Bridget van Kralingen, senior vice president, IBM Global Business Services. “Our collaboration combines IBM’s industry expertise and unmatched position in enterprise computing, with Apple’s legendary user experience and excellence in product design to lift the performance of a new generation of business professionals.”

Screenshot (28)
One of the ten apps, Sales Assist, is retail-focused and, for example, allows workers to view customer profiles with extensive back-history on previous purchases to help make informed suggestions tailored to specific users. It can also check a store's inventory, find missing in-store items, and ship items unavailable in-store to customers at home. There's one app that grants pilots easier control over flight manifests and schedules, another that provides personalized in-flight services for passengers, and multiple apps focused on banking and case advisers.

The apps, built exclusively for iPhone and iPad, "are delivered in a secure environment, embedded with analytics and linked to core enterprise processes." The two companies ensure that the apps can be developed and adjusted to fit any company, and once out in the wild are easily managed and upgraded thanks to cloud services provided by IBM. All apps are highly secure as well, and the partners promise that more apps are "being continuously designed and developed" for release in the future.

“This is a big step for iPhone and iPad in the enterprise, and we can’t wait to see the exciting new ways organizations will put iOS devices to work,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “The business world has gone mobile, and Apple and IBM are bringing together the world’s best technology with the smartest data and analytics to help businesses redefine how work gets done.”

The official websites of both Apple and IBM provide a deeper dive into the program with extensive looks into each of the ten apps announced today.

Related Roundup: iPad
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Caution)
Related Forums: iPad, iPhone

Popular Stories

best buy holiday

Best Buy Reveals Black Friday Plans With Sitewide Sales Available Now

Friday November 8, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Black Friday sales are continuing today with Best Buy kicking off early Black Friday deals that will last for the next few days. Similar to other retailers, Best Buy's early Black Friday event includes sitewide savings on Apple products, headphones, TVs, monitors, video games, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may...
mac mini thermal architecture feature

New Mac Mini Has Modular Storage, 256GB Model Will Have Faster SSD

Friday November 8, 2024 7:06 am PST by
Apple has returned to using two 128GB storage chips in the new Mac mini with 256GB of storage, according to a partial teardown video shared on social media today. This means the base-model Mac mini with the M4 chip will not have significantly slower SSD speeds compared to higher-end configurations of the computer with 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB of storage, as multiple NAND chips allows for faster SSD...
iphone passcode green

Cops Suspect iOS 18 iPhones Are Communicating to Force Reboots, Making Unlocking Harder

Thursday November 7, 2024 2:20 pm PST by
Law enforcement officials in Detroit, Michigan are warning other police officers about an alleged iPhone change that causes Apple devices stored for forensic examination to spontaneously restart, reports 404 Media. iPhones that are undergoing examination have apparently been rebooting, which makes them harder to unlock with brute force methods, and Michigan police think that it's due to a...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.2 Beta 2

Monday November 4, 2024 12:34 pm PST by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2 updates to developers, and Apple is continuing to refine the Apple Intelligence capabilities. There are also a handful of smaller features that are worth knowing about. Find My Find My has a new option to Share Item Location with an "airline or trusted person" that can help you locate something that you've misplaced....
maxresdefault

Hands On With Apple's New M4 Mac Mini

Friday November 8, 2024 12:21 pm PST by
Apple launched the new Mac mini, iMac, and MacBook Pro models with M4 chips today, and because the Mac mini is the only one of the machines that got a design update, we thought we'd check it out to see how it compares to the prior version. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The 2024 version of the Mac mini is much smaller than the previous M2 model, so it takes up...
High Power Mode Feature 2

Apple Expands High Power Mode to MacBook Pro and Mac Mini Models With M4 Pro Chip

Thursday November 7, 2024 12:15 pm PST by
High Power Mode is available on the 14-inch MacBook Pro, 16-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini models with the M4 Pro chip, according to Ars Technica's Andrew Cunningham. The feature was previously limited to Macs with Apple's highest-end "Max" chip, so this is the first time it is available on Macs with a "Pro" chip. This is the second time that Apple has expanded availability of High Power...
next generation carplay multi display

Here's the Latest on Next-Generation CarPlay After 2.5 Years of Waiting

Wednesday November 6, 2024 8:33 am PST by
It has been nearly two and a half years since Apple first previewed next-generation CarPlay at WWDC 2022, and it has still yet to become available in any vehicles. Below, we recap the latest information about next-generation CarPlay. Launch Timing Apple's website continues to say that the first vehicles with next-generation CarPlay support will "arrive in 2024," but it has yet to provide ...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

Skipping the New MacBook Pro? Here Are the Rumors About M5 Models

Friday November 8, 2024 9:35 am PST by
The new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips launched in stores today. If you are not planning to upgrade this year, be aware that there are already rumors about next year's MacBook Pro models with M5 series chips. It appears the MacBook Pro will remain on an annual upgrade cycle next year. Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said camera module...

Top Rated Comments

GreenPixel Avatar
130 months ago
Why? Just for Apple to gain marketshare in the enterprise arena and decide to scale back in the consumer market?
Success in one market does not require failure or even a decrease in another market.

Also, if enterprise is so good... What happened to Blackberry? ;)
BB did not fail simply because their market was primarily enterprise. They failed due to not adapting to market changes.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rogifan Avatar
130 months ago
Hoping for the best! Apple needs an increased foot in the enterprise arena.

Just more evidence you don't need a keyboard and Microsoft office to be productive.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thekeyring Avatar
130 months ago
Really love what Apple is doing with iOS. Features like control centre, technologies like Metal and Extensibility, and now this enterprise stuff. Great! Frustrated people hate on iOS for being "dumb" or "*****".
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Aluminum213 Avatar
130 months ago
Now how about apple make iOS for the iPad that's more then a blown up iPhone iOS


Embarrassing having a 3x3 folder grid on a 10" iPad Air 2 screen
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
keysofanxiety Avatar
130 months ago

Also, if enterprise is so good... What happened to Blackberry? ;)

If consumer is so good... What happened to Nokia? ;)
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Moonjumper Avatar
130 months ago
Smartphones are really about the software. The hardware is just an enabler for that. This move should make iOS stronger. The line is becoming much more than an iToy.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)