Monday, August 31, 2015

Apple Flexes iOS Muscle With Cisco Deal - Another Sign of New Apple Under Tim Cook

Apple announced a networking deal with Cisco to optimize Cisco's network hardware for iOS traffic.  It not only shows a new serious push by the Cupertino, California company to move past its consumer-oriented past into enterprise (along with the previous massive IBM partnership), it shows that Apple under the leadership of Tim Cook is ready to grow into new markets by leveraging its popular mobile platform.

Under the terms of the deal, Apple will work with Cisco to create a fast lane for the iPhone and iPad. More than that, the two companies will work to create an integrated and more collaborative environment for Apple devices. 

What is interesting about Apple's enterprise deals is that the success of Apple's iOS devices owes largely to the BYOD (bring your own device) culture in enterprise with massive armies of mobile warriors wanting to use their iPhones and iPads instead of company-issued devices.  The Cisco deal is just a recognition that Apple has to do more for its enterprise mobile users.  This means other companies as well which means we will hear more about these types of deals coming from Apple in the future.

Would this have happened under Steve Jobs?  Probably but not with the attention and focus that Tim Cook has put into these deals.  The enterprise has always been a tough nut for Apple to crack and Cook and his team recognize this window of opportunity. 

This deal probably means nothing for regular iPhone and iPad users.  However, we will never know what kind of new lessons Apple will learn from the Cisco partnership.  With both companies focusing on optimizing performace and security, we can possibly see some of that migrate over to Apple's own consumer-class network devices, the Airport line.  Even for home use, many users would not mind an Airport device beefed with Cisco technology.  


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