While Apple enjoys great breadth with iOS devices in the enterprise, the company continues to explore new ways to increase its depth. Previously, that involved software and solutions shops IBM and SAP. Now, Apple is adding systems integrator Accenture to the mix.
Apple's CEO, Tim Cook:
Starting 10 years ago with iPhone, and then with iPad, Apple has been transforming how work gets done, yet we believe that businesses have only just begun to scratch the surface of what they can do with our products. Both Apple and Accenture are leaders in building incredible user experiences and together we can continue to truly modernize how businesses work through amazing solutions that take advantage of the incredible capabilities of Apple's technologies.
Pierre Nanterme, Accenture's chairman and CEO:
Based on our experience in developing mobile apps, we believe that iOS is the superior mobile platform for businesses and are excited to be partnering with Apple. By combining Accenture's vast digital capabilities and industry expertise with Apple's market leadership in creating products that delight customers, we are in a perfect position to help our clients transform the way they work.
And here's how it will work:
Accenture will create a dedicated iOS practice within Accenture Digital Studios in select locations around the world. Experts from Apple will be co-located with this team. Working together, the two companies will launch a new set of tools and services that help enterprise clients transform how they engage with customers using iPhone and iPad. The experts will include visual and experience designers, programmers, data architects and scientists, and hardware and software designers.
Accenture, like most enterprise sell-ins, tends to work best when the friction is the lowest. If "no one ever got fired for buying more Oracle" was the purchase-side cliche, than "Accenture will happily sell you all the Oracle upgrades you can budget" was the sell-side.
Apple is increasingly low-friction in enterprise because its increasingly low friction everywhere. Workforces have become more mobile and client-side mobile apps have become vital.
People are also used to the high-level experiences — and security — offered by iOS apps. Merely checking boxes on a feature list is no longer good enough. And that makes iOS apps even more valuable, especially ones custom built for the projects at hand.
Let's hope Accenture can help deliver those and push iPhone and iPad ever deeper into enterprise.
