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Is the announcement of the iPad Pro a sign that Apple is shifting their focus to enterprise?

Apple leads the world in innovation with the consumer focused iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch and have built a large loyal following, but are they now starting to change their focus.

Recent announcements regarding Apple’s new business partnerships certainly seems to suggest so. Let’s take a look at three key facts…firstly Apple announced its collaboration with IBM in July, secondly just over a month later they announced their partnership with Cisco. Follow this up by a third announcement only two weeks later introducing the new iPad Pro designed for business. Take all this into account and the facts really speak for themselves.

Apple has been very clever and forged partnerships with two major business service providers in order to infiltrate the enterprise industry. Apple reviewed their areas of weakness and have filled this void with experts in their respective markets to create a mobile product offering for the enterprise market. If Apple succeeds in utilising the expertise and knowledge of both IBM and Cisco to create the ultimate mobile business product offering in the form of the iPad Pro, then all I can say is watch out Microsoft.

1.What will working with IBM achieve?

According to the Apple press release the IBM partnership aims to:

transform enterprise mobility through a new class of business apps—bringing IBM’s big data and analytics capabilities to iPhone and iPad. The combination will create apps that can transform specific aspects of how businesses and employees work using iPhone and iPad”

In turn these improvements will support businesses in achieving new levels of effectiveness, efficiency and customer satisfaction – lets hope the iPad Pro lives up to these high expectations as the first offspring of Apple’s and IBM collaboration efforts. Enterprises worldwide will also be able to purchase iPhones and iPads with the new business mobile solutions directly from IBM.

Apple and IBM will also be reviewing industry issues and opportunities to target sectors such as retail, healthcare and financial services to provide solution based “made-for-business apps”. The enterprise industry should really benefit from this collaborative effort and utilise the new business service offerings that will be available from the iPad Pro to their advantage.

2. What will the partnership between Apple andCisco offer enterprise?

Not only have Apple partnered with IBM but also another big hitter in the business market, Cisco. Whereas IBM focus on app development Cisco’s expertise lies in networking services.

In today’s high speed world the demands are ever-increasing on corporate infrastructure. The solution is simple, to optimise the connection by improving compatibility between Cisco’s networks and Apple’s iOS devices, therefore improving performance and reliability with the goal of enhancing the user experience.

This business collaboration will certainly make it easier for the corporate world to move away from desktop and laptop devices and fully embrace the tablet, especially with the increase in screen size of the iPad Pro and the introduction of the Smart keyboard.

Apple’s recent strategic partnership decisions are sure signs that the company is serious about improving its business focused offering and ultimately trying to penetrate the enterprise market.

3. Apple iPad Pro key business features

So, IBM are supplying business apps and Cisco are providing optimised networking, so what is the Apple iPad itself bringing to the table in terms of features for enterprise?

Simplicity – Apple maintains its key feature with the iPad Pro is no different than previous iPad models…the user experience, it is super easy to use.

Extras – The main highlight for the Smart Keyboard is that it needs no batteries, cords, or on/off switches, but to get businesses really interested the keyboard needs to be responsive and accurate, which Apple is promising, lets hope it delivers. Lets not forget the infamous Apple Pencil, the potential this tool gives to business users and designers outweighs any past doubts with the unique Multi‑Touch technology enabling precision so any line variations can be achieved through changes in pressure.

Design – The iPad Pro comes complete with a bigger and sharper 12.9 inch screen, making it the largest iPad in Apple’s tablet range. This is an advantage over its closest competitor the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 which is only offering a 12 inch screen, however the announcement of the Surface Pro 4 which is rumoured to be coming in October could change this.

“The new iPad Pro is bigger and more powerful when compared to others and it appears to be a capable enterprise-class tablet device,” said Brian Blau, Research Director at Gartner.

Time for a reality check

Sorry folks it’s not all roses, the iPad Pro does have some drawbacks that may affect business purchasing decisions.

The first and still the most disappointing is the lack of any USB ports, removing the option to connect to peripherals or memory sticks. Coming a close second in frustration level is the lack of storage, the iPad Pro is restricted to a maximum of 128GB. Yes we all know we can use the ‘cloud’ but sometimes you just want a decent amount of storage on the actual device that you have invested in. That’s the negatives covered, so let’s move on.

Microsoft’s business heritage could prove to be Apple’s biggest challenge
Yes it’s Apple and everyone ‘loves’ the iPad but we can’t overlook the fact that Microsoft still has a long history and a multitude of experience in providing solutions for business needs, including a very large back catalogue of applications and software created over the years on desktop, which is used by many organisations.

“Apple still has a ways to go in terms of overall how iOS can be supported in the enterprise. The Pro does need to be more than a consumption device, it has to enable core productivity, communications, portability and also have the necessary apps and services meant for enterprise use for the device to gain broader acceptance.” said Gartner’s Blau.

This is Apple’s first proper outing into the tablet market for enterprise and if they are successful in achieving a ‘broader acceptance’ as Blau states, then Microsoft and others will have to step up their game…which can only be good for ‘us’ the purchasers in the future as technology continues to develop to meet our ever demanding needs.

imageHOLDERS are primed and ready

imageHOLDERS are always ahead of the game when it comes to new technology and have been waiting for the announcement of the iPad Pro. We will adapt our current Shell+ range of tablet enclosures to accommodate the larger sized iPad Pro tablet with ease, with the slightly increased sized kiosk being available from November.

We are also extremely excited to see what developments come from our partnered original equipment manufacturer’s (OEM’s), and whether they will be adapting current products to ensure compatibility with Apple’s iOS or developing new product offerings to serve business requests. Either way we will be prepared to incorporate printers, scanners, contactless readers and much more into our iPad Pro kiosks to create the best solution for your business.

If the Apple iPad Pro is not for you then check out our blog ‘Tablet Adoption Keeps Growing, Is Your Business Ready? which includes a review of the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 tablet and how it has really upped its game in terms of business performance.

For more information on our iPad Pro kiosk enclosure or our range of other tablet enclosures, please get in touch with the imageHOLDERS team today via email at [email protected] or call +44 (0) 1202 892 863.