Rometty & Cook On Apple & IBM’s Partnership

Earlier this year Apple Inc., and IBM Corp., announced the beginnings of a new enterprise alliance to deliver industry-specific iOS apps and optimized cloud services. Now, we’ve just seen the first fruits of this partnership with the launch of a new AppleCare for Enterprise site, which suggests the AppleCare plan is now available for IBM’s enterprise customers.

The new site offers a rundown of the various services and support enterprises can enjoy if they sign up for the program. There’s been no official announcement about it yet, but the site indicates that this is just the first stage of Apple and IBM’s enterprise partnership, which means there should be plenty more to come.

As the website explains, all customer accounts will be handled by a dedicated AppleCare Account Manager, described by Apple as “your personal liaison with AppleCare.” The Account Manager is responsible for providing support services, monthly reports, troubleshooting tips and IT infrastructure reviews. In addition, the Account Manager can liase with AppleCare for quick resolutions – it’s promised that urgent calls will receive a response within just one hour, while enterprise employees will also have access to a 24-hour technical help line.

Meanwhile, IBM’s involvement relates to providing support for IBM MobileFirst for iOS apps. IBM MobileFirst is a customized software suite that can be tailored for specific industries and markets. During Apple’s most recent earnings call, CEO Tim Cook revealed that IBM would soon be rolling out a variety of solutions for the banking, government, insurance, retail, travel and transportation, and telecommunications sectors. Before that, IBM said it was developing over 100 different apps for the project.

Besides this, IBM also promises to carry out on-premises hardware repairs in just one business day, while Apple is offering a next-day device replacement service that covers ten percent of a company’s iDevices.

Enterprises that wish to sign up for the AppleCare for Enterprise service should contact their Apple of IBM account executive for more details. Pricing for the service is currently unknown.