AppleCare for Enterprise With On-Site Support From IBM Now Live

[MacRumors]

Earlier this year, Apple and IBM announced a major enterprise mobility partnership that would see IBM selling iOS devices to its corporate customers, creating industry-specific native apps, providing iOS-optimized cloud services, and providing support for a new AppleCare service.

IBM and Apple are now moving forward with their partnership, and Apple has recently launched a new AppleCare for Enterprise website, suggesting that its promised enterprise-grade AppleCare plan is now available for IBM's enterprise customers.

As detailed on the website, all AppleCare for Enterprise accounts are handled by an AppleCare Account Manager, providing a personal liaison with AppleCare. Apple promises a one-hour response time for all urgent issues, with IT department-level support available 24/7 via phone or email. All AppleCare for Enterprise customers can also replace 10 percent of damaged iOS devices, giving businesses an easy way to replace iPads or iPhones that have been accidentally damaged by employees.

As promised during the announcement of its IBM partnership, Apple is offering an onsite hardware repair service for AppleCare for Enterprise customers. While Apple is handling all email and phone requests, IBM Global Technology Services will provide onsite repairs.

You have the option to get onsite service coverage for two or three years from the date of your hardware purchase. If you have a hardware issue during that time, AppleCare for Enterprise will help get you back up and running quickly. IBM's Global Technology Services, a worldwide Apple Authorized Service Provider, will provide onsite service within the next business day.

The new AppleCare for Enterprise site comes just ahead of IBM's first dedicated enterprise-focused iOS apps. During Apple's recent earnings call, Tim Cook said that next month, IBM will introduce apps across six sectors: banking, government, insurance, retail, travel, and transportation and telecommunications.

Pricing on the Enterprise plans is unknown, but enterprise customers interested in finding out more about Apple's AppleCare for Enterprise plans are encouraged to contact their Apple or IBM Account Executives.

(Thanks, Craig!)

Article Link: AppleCare for Enterprise With On-Site Support From IBM Now Live

 

[farewelwilliams]

does it cover gold watches?

 

[Will do good]

How sad for IBM, now they are just Apple's repair guy.

Thank god I sold their stocks year ago.

 

[Traverse]

I'm glad to see Apple pushing their way into the enterprise.

General consumer preference is a dangerous place to be. Consumer trends can shift rapidly, but once you get a business ingrained in your ecosystem it is difficult and costly for them to switch.

 

[greg555]

I'm glad to see Apple pushing their way into the enterprise.

General consumer preference is a dangerous place to be. Consumer trends can shift rapidly, but once you get a business ingrained in your ecosystem it is difficult and costly for them to switch.

Diversifying their customer base is good.

 

[japasneezemonk]

How sad for IBM, now they are just Apple's repair guy.

Thank god I sold their stocks year ago.

I don't feel bad for them, they're still doing well. I do wish they hadn't sold their Point -of-Sale hardware division. Their hardware still reigns king in major retailers and restaurants across the country. I still see new establishments installing IBM surePOS 500 systems. Keep in mind, Toshiba now owns the new division, which means customers are buying refurbished IBM hardware, instead of buying the newer Toshiba systems.

 

[Macboy Pro]

Now I wish the consumer could get Applecare from someone beside what you get at the "genius" bar. I absolutely can not stand going in the Apple Store to get some arrogant kid who knows less about computers than I do and gives me his bull about Apple policy, etc. Professional Applecare is a welcome change. Now if they would offer 4 or 5 year warranty options, they could convince me that they are company that does more than sell soon to be obsolete products.

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How sad for IBM, now they are just Apple's repair guy.

Thank god I sold their stocks year ago.

IBM is HUGE in the corporate enterprise world. Apple is not and will never be when they could only offer "genius" bar warranty work. Applecare is laughable to any major corporation potentially until now.

 

[WardC]

Maybe IBM will retool, redraft, and re-think the Mac Server and bring back an all new OS X server solution that is as good as the stuff they ship on their Power7 supercomputers

Even better yet...bring POWER processors to the Mac Pro line!!!!

 

[occollegeboi420]

Now I wish the consumer could get Applecare from someone beside what you get at the "genius" bar. I absolutely can not stand going in the Apple Store to get some arrogant kid who knows less about computers than I do and gives me his bull about Apple policy, etc. Professional Applecare is a welcome change. Now if they would offer 4 or 5 year warranty options, they could convince me that they are company that does more than sell soon to be obsolete products.

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IBM is HUGE in the corporate enterprise world. Apple is not and will never be when they could only offer "genius" bar warranty work. Applecare is laughable to any major corporation potentially until now.

You can buy applecare from amazon or ebay. The seller will email you the registration number. You won't get the physical stupid box but that's not needed if you have the registration number. The box is just an extra tree that was cut down anyway. It's way way cheaper through those websites as well.

 

[farmkittie]

Does this mean that future Macs will run IBM AIX now? /s

 

[realeric]

Is IBM still alive ?

 

[brdeveloper]

It seems to be a better deal for Apple than for IBM. Once enterprise employees become used to iOS apps, it's easier for Apple offering "enterprise cloud services" in which IBM can be put instantly out of business.

 

[Dargoth]

Is IBM still alive ?

Uhm... Yes? Their PoS systems are all over the place. Many big chains use them extensively. I don't really know the extent of their relevancy, but they are very much relevant. They have practically no presence in the consumer world though. Lenovo isn't much of a contender.

Plus, they make huge contributions to the scientific community in the form of World Community Grid. Check them out sometime. Hopefully IBM stays relevant.

 

[Dekema2]

Is IBM still alive ?

Yes. A college across my state is actually working with IBM in developing nanoscale computer chips. Maybe Apple could partner up with them 50 years down the road.

 

[CheesePuff]

Is IBM still alive ?

Serious? 430,000+ employees, $126+ billion in assets, $99+ billion in revenue last year...

 

[macsimcon]

This is just JointVenture for Enterprise

I’ve worked with IBM’s Mac consultants, and they know about as much as a Help Desk person does.

The problem with an offering like this: they don’t know the client’s setup, and they will do everything possible to avoid sending someone out, which clients don’t like.

Clients don’t want to haul their equipment into an Apple Store to try to figure out what is wrong, they want the problem addressed in their environment, in case it turns out to be an interaction with another system or product.

JV and AppleCare for Enterprise won’t do this.

Apple and IBM’s support people routinely try to suggest that the problem isn’t THEIR product, it’s something else…that of course, they don’t have to support.

This is just Apple and IBM trying to grab what they think is the low-hanging fruit in service and support.

 

[iphone495]

$36 million??

$3.6 million dollars??????

http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/AP.../2409426.aspx?enkwrd=AppleCare for Enterprise

NO THANKS!

 

[smulji]

Serious? 430,000+ employees, $126+ billion in assets, $99+ billion in revenue last year...

Apple has about 93,000 employees, about $130 billion in the bank & had about $180 billion in revenue for their fiscal year 2014

 

[scbn]

For those who don't know, IBM became a primary IT service company many years ago; their hardware and software divisions are much smaller compared to their services.

This is a good win-win deal for both companies; for Apple, enterprise is the next frontier, with untapped potential revenue streams; for IBM, they'll have more service jobs to do. And it's also good news for the enterprise customers who so far have not embraced Apple's products because of lack of support and services. Now they have IBM to call and yield at when there is a problem.

 

[Keirasplace]

I’ve worked with IBM’s Mac consultants, and they know about as much as a Help Desk person does.

The problem with an offering like this: they don’t know the client’s setup, and they will do everything possible to avoid sending someone out, which clients don’t like.

Clients don’t want to haul their equipment into an Apple Store to try to figure out what is wrong, they want the problem addressed in their environment, in case it turns out to be an interaction with another system or product.

JV and AppleCare for Enterprise won’t do this.

Apple and IBM’s support people routinely try to suggest that the problem isn’t THEIR product, it’s something else…that of course, they don’t have to support.

This is just Apple and IBM trying to grab what they think is the low-hanging fruit in service and support.

Blaming it on someone else, or even the client, is what EVERY CSR does no matter the company, but especially in large companies, thats' seemingly their whole job description.

 

[Renzatic]

Apple has about 93,000 employees, about $130 billion in the bank & had about $180 billion in revenue for their fiscal year 2014

This isn't a contest to see who's making more money. He's simply stating that IBM is still doing quite well for itself.

 

[MacGuy1985]

Apple has about 93,000 employees, about $130 billion in the bank & had about $180 billion in revenue for their fiscal year 2014

unless you hold stock that is meaningless

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Is IBM still alive ?

besides the fact that they run almost every power grid, POS system, and data center system in the ****ing world and massive enterprise servies that our world depends on


yeah...dead

 

[cr2]

Does this mean that future Macs will run IBM AIX now? /s

May be P7 servers will run OSX. If someone can port HPUX, Solaris, Redhat Linux (with everything), AIX on MacPro then it will be an amazing Database Machine.

 

[alexrmc92]

Hopefully this means that IBM will offer a real server solution os iOS and OS X client machines. Whether it runs on AIX or Linux i don't care as long as it is stable, scalable, and maintainable.

 

[kingtj]

I don't think that was what he meant?

I think he was talking about actually USING an AppleCare warranty to get a corporate Mac or product serviced.

We run into that nonsense all the time where I work. We purchase extended AppleCare on new machines for employees when we first order them (often from a vendor like CDW). No problem there, and we even get a discounted price.

The problem is, when someone comes in and hands us a Macbook Air with a dead screen, screaming "Help! I need this back up and running ASAP!"

Unlike service agreements from companies like Dell, we can't just call and have a technician come out on site the next day to repair it. One of us is expected to hand deliver the machine to a local Apple store AFTER making a Genius Bar appointment for it first. Sometimes, if they're busy ... that may be several days out.

THEN, you have to sit through the Apple Genius troubleshooting things (steps you've likely already taken since you work in corporate I.T. and have a pretty good idea what to do to get someone's Mac going again). After that, they may fix the machine in-house, but depends if that store happens to have the repair part(s) needed. If not, they send it out for service with a, "Dunno when it will be back... but we'll call you when it's ready to pick up." promise. When it's fixed? You better bring a major credit card or other form of payment too. They're not gonna just let you pick it up and bill the repair to a corporate account with NET terms.

Oh, and almost forgot ... Apple will also caution you that you might lose any data on the machine as part of the repair. (Why on earth they'd touch what's on the hard drive when the problem is clearly the LCD display, I have no clue ... but they do warn you of exactly that for this type of repair!)

All the way around, it's the type of service that's fine for a typical retail consumer ... but clashes with the needs of corporate I.T.

You can buy applecare from amazon or ebay. The seller will email you the registration number. You won't get the physical stupid box but that's not needed if you have the registration number. The box is just an extra tree that was cut down anyway. It's way way cheaper through those websites as well.