IBM, Apple Deliver 100-Plus Enterprise iOS Apps

Building Apps Without Code: 7 Options For Your Enterprise

On Wednesday IBM announced that it has delivered more than 100 IBM MobileFirst for iOS apps  developed as part of Big Blue's partnership with Apple.

The apps cover more than 14 industries and 65 individual professions that range from wealth advisor to flight attendant, to first responder, nurse, and retail buyer.

IBM said in its announcement that it plans to expand to new markets, including consumer products, automotive, aging, chemicals, and petroleum.

Air Canada, AXA, Coca-Cola Amatil, Japan Post, and Vodafone Netherlands are among the companies throughout the world that were selecting IBM MobileFirst for iOS apps.

"We see the transformation of our customers' experience as a strategic differentiator for our insurance and financial advice business," said Nicolas Moreau, chairman and CEO of AXA, in the IBM announcement. "We're going to combine the sleek experience of an Apple Genius Bar with the expertise of our advisors to not only give our customers the experience they want, but an experience that dramatically exceeds their expectations."

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank said it is using the apps to create a new design studio for its banking products. ADIB has a presence in six markets: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Sudan, Iraq, and Qatar.

The new design studio builds on the bank's efforts to digitize its products and services in order to enhance customer experience. The project includes new IBM MobileFirst for iOS banking apps. The Bank will also in the same effort use the IBM MobileFirst for iOS Trusted Advice app, which allows the bank's financial advisors to securely access and manage client portfolios from their iPads.

SAS, which is the largest airline in Scandinavia, will provide its flight attendants with the Passenger+ app developed by IBM MobileFirst. This allows them to access a 360-degree view of each passenger's past preferences, interests, and purchasing decisions to deliver a more personalized flying experience.

[See InformationWeek's iPad Pro Review. (Hint: bigger isn't always better.)]

IBM further said that it will integrate the cognitive capability of Watson into future IBM MobileFirst for iOS apps. This integration will be aware of the data that is input to the apps, and refine the output as the apps are used repeatedly.

"Our apps -- which currently represent an exclusive level of business value -- are evolving to deliver cognitive capability that refines insights to the most relevant information, enhancing the quality of decision making," said Fred Balboni, general manager Apple partnership, in the announcement.

IBM is also currently developing enterprise apps for iPad Pro that take advantage of the device's capabilities as well as iOS 9's multitasking features, which allow working in two apps side-by-side at the same time.

Apps with Apple Pencil support will be added to provide added precision and functionality to tasks, such as designing and laying out a room, logging transactions, or annotating maintenance logs.

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