The recent consumerization of IT and bring-your-own-device phenomenon, which clearly has been boosted by Apple devices such as the iPhone and iPad, have been big drivers for (CIOs) to start looking at Apple devices as part of their corporate strategy.
From Apple’s perspective the enterprise market holds vast potential that it does not want to lose. Although Apple is a seen primarily as a consumer company, in Brazil it has partnered in order to reach corporate segments.
To RCR Wireless News Apple noted that it does not comment on its strategy, but it did acknowledge that it has business-focused resellers in Brazil, specifically Scopus and PromonLogicalis.
“The fact that Apple signed a partnership with us, a B2B company, indicates itself the strategy Apple is adopting. I believe it corroborates Apple’s interest in the corporate market and in Brazil,” noted Renata Randi, PromonLogicalis’ business director for marketing and alliances.
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PromonLogicalis’ deal with Apple was signed earlier this year, though Randi noted that they have yet to attract any clients. “We have some prospects,” she said, without revealing names.
“Apple is certainly interested in selling to enterprises, but Apple does not want to change its company focus on consumers in order to do that. Apple remains a consumer company first. They are making some changes to accommodate enterprises’ needs, but nothing that would compromise Apple as a consumer company,” explained Carolina Milanesi, Gartner’s VP and lead Apple analyst.
Apple is looking to move into the enterprise space on its own terms, Milanesi added. “It knows that great appeal to end users results in overpowering pressure on IT to support Apple products,” Milanesi explained.
Among enterprises, Apple is not considered a traditional IT supplier. Indeed, for many years CIOs had preferred more traditional companies, which have developed enterprise strategies and developed whole ecosystems to attend corporate needs for compliance, security and management.
Although Apple did not confirm the existence of an enterprise-targeting department, on its website the company host pages focused on business uses of its iPhone and iPad.
“Apple has certainly done things to improve its positions in the enterprise, from adding more security to its iOS devices to allowing for bulk application purchases to most recently adding support for a Configurator to iOS 5.1,” said Gartner’s Milanesi.
Aaron Freimark, director at Tekserve Information, added that although Apple is not promoting its enterprise aspirations, there is lots of enterprise information about mobile management, ability and security to iOS. “That might not be enough for some kind of business, but it is much more than people think. Apple has listened corporate needs and has been addressing them,” Freimark said.
Tekserve has worked with Apple products in the United States since the 80’s, and currently works with Fortune 1000 companies to integrate Apple devices into their organizations.
In Brazil, Apple’s enterprise ambitions are just getting started with the recent deal with Scopus and PromonLogicalis. Scopus declined an interview request.
“Our proposal is to sell iPads through value-added solutions, including, for instance, security and management tools,” explained PromonLogicalis’ Renata. The company is looking to use the iPad as a differentiator for its solutions, selling it as a service with applications embedded. “We are addressing end-to-end solutions, with vertical focus,” Renata added.
Renata acknowledged that the partnership with Apple would likely increase the appeal of its offering and make PromonLogicalis more competitive in the marketplace. “We already had companies who requested us to use Apple’s devices. We can offer them the whole package, from infrastructure to device, which our competitors can’t,” Renata said.
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