IBM and Apple announced a landmark partnership this week (July 2014). IBM called it: “The next level of enterprise mobility: where data meets engagement.” Apple called it as ‘redefining the mobile enterprise.”

Wall Street observers and technology pundits were caught off-guard and offered widely ranging assessments. Fortune provided a quick summary. Daniel Eran Dilger at AppleInsider provided what I think to be a well-reasoned assessment of what this could mean for Apple.

Let me start by stating that this is not about the PC-era when Apple and IBM competed across the “architecture of the personal computer.” Microsoft won that battle, IBM sold its PC business to Lenovo. Apple Macintosh now competes against Microsoft’s Windows and Google’s Chrome OS. This is about the future ‘architecture at the intersection of mobile devices and cloud services.’ This is nothing to do with the widely watched 1984 Apple SuperBowl Ad. Times have changed.

This is also not about IBM selling more iPhones and iPads to enterprise customers—if that were the case, the announcement would just be channel partnership. This is a partnership focused on the future.

So, what are the key points worth reflecting?

1. Complementarity. IBM and Apple complement each other in the evolving enterprise digital architecture. There is minimal no overlap. IBM is not in devices. Apple is not in data analytics and managed services. But, what do enterprises need as they shift to mobile + cloud architecture? Integration at a greater scale and speed for their workers to be productive. Attention to big data and analytics is incomplete without making that data driven decisions and timely actions. Faster and lighter devices (e.g., iPads) at the hands of enterprise workers are only partly useful if they cannot access the data that are increasingly located on the cloud. So, IBM needs Apple and Apple needs IBM.
2. Pull from BYOD. Pull from the enterprises for this partnership has been building up over the last few years with increased practice of BYOD (bring-your-own-devices). Tablets (especially iPads) have become commonplace in many industries. With the availability of Microsoft Office for iPad starting in March 2014, iPads have become more useful than just consumption devices. And, Apple iPads have won over Android tablets in business settings. Now, enterprises may more readily adopt iPhones, iPads and whatever else devices that Apple may be introducing in future.
3. Beyond the Current Horizon. Working together, IBM and Apple are in a position to co-create new enterprise apps. They will be on a different architecture to provide next-generation productivity and functionality. This partnership is not about optimizing the current horizon. This is clearly about the next horizon. The announcement said that the relationship aims to “redefine the way work will get done” through a “new class of more than 100 industry-specific solutions including native apps, developed exclusively from the ground up, for iPhone and iPad.”
   The lead indicators of the fruits of this partnership will be in how leading enterprise customers benefit from the combination of capabilities from the two companies. Ginny Rometty of IBM is betting IBM for the long-term with this partnership. Apple is deepening its influence within business enterprise without investing in channels and service delivery.
4. Scale and Scope of Partnership. It is impressive that IBM is expected to put about 100,000 industry and domain consultants and software developers to unleash the promise of this partnership. The sheer scale of involvement from IBM is significant. The partnership will also focus on security—increasingly important for enterprises and society. Apple with its commitment to security at the device level and IBM with its commitment and prowess to manage security at the cloud level work together to push the frontier of security. By pooling their patent portfolios in security, the partnership could make significant inroads in this important arena.
5. iOS Developer Ecosystem. The partnership is able to leverage the vibrancy of Apple’s developer ecosystems along with the introduction of the new programming language, Swift. As Apple further integrates Mac OS with iOS, the developers will be able to design and develop apps that can seamlessly work across desktops, laptops, tables and phones. This clearly has the potential to enhance enterprise efficiency and effectiveness. IBM is able to leverage this developer ecosystem in new and innovative ways. The developer ecosystem now has a more direct channel to enterprises than ever before—their potential market enhanced significantly. Thus, developers may prioritize Apple versus Android differently now given the redefined market scope.
6. IBM Watson. The press release specifically did not mention IBM Watson, which is interesting in itself. My expectation is that this is a hidden, follow-on option. As Watson technology matures, I expect to see Watson-powered apps on Apple iOS. Imagine the combination of Apple Siri and IBM Watson.

Winners and Losers? Pundits jump to declare winners and losers. Some think BlackBerry and Microsoft could lose out. Instead of prematurely declaring winners and losers, let us think about the next moves for the key players in the IT landscape. Microsoft needs to double-down with Azure plus Windows given its CEO’s call to redefine the company to “enable people to thrive in this mobile-first and cloud-first world.” IBM-Apple partnership is exactly in that battleground: cloud + mobile. BlackBerry needs to develop a more compelling case to be part of the evolving enterprise IT architecture.

IBM has shown a strong preference for Apple devices. So, BlackBerry needs to align with other players such as HP, Oracle, Salesforce and SAP.

What about Google and Samsung? What about Amazon and AWS? What options for AT&T, Ericsson and Cisco? Clearly these and other players will make moves in the coming months to position themselves relative to this important partnership.

More importantly, Apple and IBM needs to work together to realize the potential value from the announcement. Many obstacles need to be overcome to make this relationship create new business value that then could be captured by IBM, Apple and its ecosystem partners.

Update: January 2015

IBM and Apple working together have announced publicly 10 apps for enterprises. IBM MobileFirst for iOS solutions are geared to redefine how professionals make use of tablets in their work. These initial apps show early signs of the potential of apps to redefine work.

I have always maintained that enterprise business processes have been stuck in outmoded ways for over the last decade. While consumer processes (banking, retail, entertainment and communications) have benefited from apps on mobile devices, most enterprises were stuck in legacy technologies and processes designed and deployed in the 1990s. Now, that is about to change. If Apple introduces its rumored iPad Pro (designed for enterprises with greater security features), these applications could become even more attractive in enterprises.