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I'm not sure this is a good idea for Apple which its root were always based on Consumer product. Steve Jobs hated Enterprise Market. Its fair to believe that Enterprise is an opposite site of Consumer. Their principle of requirement, design or even purchasing decision are very different. You can't please everyone. I wonder how will next i-Devices look like if they are trying to please enterprise rather than the consumer.

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As I understand it, this is Apple focusing on consumer, while leveraging IBM as a strategic partner to service/support the enterprise market.

Without IBM, Apple would have to build up an enterprise sales team or cede that market to Microsoft who has an existing enterprise sales team. So, if this partnership works out it plays to both companies strengths.

Finally, Apple has been encroaching on enterprise for years, each iOS update has included enterprise specific features (central management, per app vpn, single sign on to name a few from v7 & 8).

I agree that this may be a mistake by Apple, but Jobs didn't hate the enterprise market. He may have hated it for Apple, but it was NeXT's main ambition. For example here's a video of Jobs explaining why NeXT would go after the professional non-scientific workstation market -- lawyers, medicine, database-driven apps. ie the enterprise.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HNfRgSlhIW0

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