Two tech giants have come together to form another strategic partnership.
Newsworthy? You bet!
But what about the folks responsible for designing, installing and procuring technology for corporate, office and enterprise environments? Will what Apple and Cisco are doing together matter to them?
Basically, Apple and Cisco have worked together to develop a “fast lane” where Cisco Networks can prioritize the traffic on Apple mobile devices like iPhones and iPads.
Additionally, the prioritization can be based upon business critical applications like video or email rather than just any surfing being done on these devices.
This comes on the heels of a recent report by Good Technology showing some less than stellar numbers (in Apple’s eyes) as it pertains to enterprise activation with both iPhones and iPads losing ground.
With Apple’s market share in the enterprise seeing a surprising downturn, this partnership could help bolster activations of its phones and tablets by corporations looking to improve workplace mobility and productivity.
Integrators Should Care
Mobility is a very hot topic within the enterprise. In fact, among the list of CIO priorities, mobility remains a top 10 initiative and its impact is growing as consumers continue to increase their time spent on mobile devices.
For integrators this transition from dedicated rooms, to desktops to mobile devices has yielded a push for simplicity in mobility when utilizing technologies like video conferencing, web conferencing, digital signage and control applications.
Related: Apple, Cisco Partner to Boost iOS for Business
Buyers of collaboration and presentation technology are expecting mobile devices to integrate into the room experience and serve as a cog in bringing external users into meetings from anywhere so long as they have adequate bandwidth.
With these priorities being high in the eyes of both IT executives and users, this means that AV integrators will benefit by seeking out technologies that cooperate with these objectives while being ultra flexible inside of the enterprise environment.
All About A Mobility Mindset
As mobility continues to become more critical to the way businesses operate, there is going to be an increased expectation for the solutions AV Integrators install to be mobile friendly. This doesn’t just mean running an app on the device; it means meeting mobility expectations such as seamless transition from one space to another and the ability to access any technology from anywhere without disrupting the experience.
This means integrators need to pay attention to how their systems play with mobility while being acutely aware of what is driving technology decisions inside the enterprise. If nothing else, being aware of why this partnership is important shows that as an integrator you understand the hierarchy of tech purchase decisions.
Today CIOs and technology budgets and projects flow down based upon meeting the company’s strategic technology goals. The partnership between Apple and Cisco provides a new level of speed and productivity in the enterprise.
Integrators will benefit from this technology but will also be forced to evolve to a mobility mindset if they truly want to leverage its potential in the solutions they are deploying.
Remember the old adage about never being fired for installing Cisco? Well I guess Apple wasn’t too happy about its recent decreased enterprise market share and in turn decided this was just the partnership they needed to get back on track.
