Apple and IBM’s partnership to bring devices and software solutions to the enterprise dates back to 2014. Now in a related development, the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is set to buy 11,000 iPhone SE smartphones that will include IBM’s software support.
Reported by Public Technology, The UKs DWP isn’t actually buying the iPhones SE devices through Apple but has signed a contract through the reseller XMA to purchase the 11,000 iPhones at £380 instead of the regular £399 rate. The DWP also got some extras with the deal:
However, as part of the deal DWP’s devices will be supplied with waterproof and tamper-evident asset tags holding bar codes and numbers, with XMA providing the details of the tag number, IMEI identifier and serial number of each phone issued.
DWP is also buying access to IBM’s enterprise iOS support for two years through another third-party, Bramble Hub.
The department has also awarded procurement consultancy Bramble Hub a deal worth up to £4.25m to provide third-party independent support for IBM software for 24 months, in this case using the cloud support lot of CCS’s G-Cloud 12 framework agreement. Origina, which supports more than 800 IBM software products that were acquired by HCL Technologies, is listed as the subcontractor.
It’s unclear if there’s more to the DWP’s decision than price to go through third-parties than directly through Apple and IBM. But in the end, Apple’s and IBM’s enterprise market share is growing.
One of the biggest Apple + IBM purchases in the past was from United Airlines. And just this year, Apple and Verizon teamed up on a new “Fleet Swap” program for the enterprise market to easily upgrade commercial iPhone fleets.
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