BARCELONA, Spain, March
2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE:
IBM) today announced the expansion of the IBM
MobileFirst for iOS portfolio to address key priorities for the
Banking and Financial Services, Airline and Retail industries.
These next IBM MobileFirst for iOS apps are available for business
customization and deployment starting today. The full portfolio of
made-for-business apps from Apple and IBM hold the potential to
transform the job roles and effectiveness of hundreds of millions
of professionals globally.
More than 50 foundational clients including Air Canada, American
Eagle Outfitters, Banorte, Boots UK, Citi and Sprint have signed on
for apps that deliver the complete expertise and capabilities of
those companies to their employees wherever they interact with
clients -- faster, easier and more securely than ever before.
"Delivering exceptional customer care is at the heart of the
Boots customer experience, and mobile technology unlocks new levels
of convenience and accessibility for our customers. The pilot
of the IBM MobileFirst for iOS Sales Assist app will seek to
explore how we can further empower our colleagues to be able to
turn each customer interaction into a unique and personal
experience," said Robin Phillips,
Director of Multichannel, Boots UK. "Boots colleagues will have
access to real-time data and insight from across the company in the
palm of their hands, allowing them to offer shoppers even greater
levels of service- including real time stock availability and easy
in store ordering."
New IBM MobileFirst for iOS apps include:
- Passenger Care (Travel and Transportation): Travelers
need assistance on the go, yet customer service agents remain
tethered to their counters, leading to long lines and unresolved
passenger issues. Passenger Care empowers customer service
agents to address traveler needs from anywhere -- offering
passengers a smoother, more personalized experience while speeding
check-in and easing airport congestion.
- Dynamic Buy (Retail): Retail buyers have historically
relied more on instinct and experience than factual insight when
making buying decisions. With Dynamic Buy, retailers gain real-time
perspective and data-driven recommendations on how products are
performing and seasonal recommendations, for example, helping
retailers realize better return on investments.
- Advisor Alerts (Banking and Financial Services):
Financial professionals typically juggle hundreds of clients, often
lacking the time to properly address individual client needs.
Advisor Alerts uses analytics to help financial professionals
prioritize client-related tasks awhile on-the-go, empowering them
to make well-informed, timely decisions. Backed by customized
analytics, the app tells the advisor what's most important via a
personalized dashboard that displays recommended next steps,
portfolio-impacting alerts, and provides a communications platform
to quickly delegate tasks to teams back in the office.
"Apple and IBM are the only companies that could partner to
develop a new category of made-for-business apps that is truly
transforming how works gets done," said Fred Balboni, IBM General Manager, IBM and Apple
partnership. "We set out to transform how millions of workers
consume, process and use information when they are outside the four
walls of the office. Our goal is to boost the performance of
every enterprise by making all its data and processes available to
any employee with an iOS device – anytime, anywhere."
Apple and IBM are blending their independent positions of
strength, bringing the power of enterprise data, industry
expertise, cloud services and analytics together with intuitive
design and elegant user experiences. The result will fundamentally
redefine the ways enterprises empower their professionals to
interact, learn, connect and perform.
Built exclusively for iPhone and iPad, IBM MobileFirst for iOS
apps are delivered in a secure environment, embedded with analytics
and linked to core enterprise processes. The apps can be customized
for any organization and easily deployed, managed and upgraded via
cloud services from IBM specifically for iOS devices.
IBM MobileFirst for iOS apps are now available to enterprise
customers in banking, retail, insurance, financial services,
telecommunications, energy and utilities and for governments and
airlines, thanks to the unprecedented collaboration between Apple
and IBM.
For more information regarding the new Apple and IBM solutions,
please
visit www.ibm.com/mobilefirst/us/en/mobilefirst-for-ios.html or www.apple.com/business/mobile-enterprise-apps/.
About IBM MobileFirst
IBM's 6,000 mobile experts have been at the forefront of mobile
enterprise innovation. IBM has secured more than 4,300 patents in
mobile, social and security, which have been incorporated into IBM
MobileFirst solutions that enable enterprise clients to radically
streamline and accelerate mobile adoption, help organizations
engage more people and capture new markets. Through IBM's
partnership with Apple, the two organizations are transforming
enterprise mobility with a new class of industry specific business
apps. For more information on IBM MobileFirst, visit the press kit
or www.ibm.com/mobilefirst. Follow @IBMMobile on Twitter, and
see IBM MobileFirst on YouTube, Tumblr and Facebook.
About Boots UK
Boots UK (boots.com), the UK's leading pharmacy-led health and
beauty retailer, is part of the Retail Pharmacy International
Division of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA), the first
global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise. With
2,511* stores in the UK, Boots UK is committed to providing
exceptional customer and patient care, be the first choice for
pharmacy and healthcare and offer innovative products 'only at
Boots' such as the UK's leading skincare brand No7, all delivered
with the great value customers love. Created over 160 years ago,
the Boots brand is still at the heart of the communities it
serves.
* As at 30 November 2014 on a
pro-forma basis excluding equity method investments
Media Contacts:
Jeannine
Kilbride
IBM External Relations
Phone: +1 860-997-6277
Email: jkilbri@us.ibm.com
Alicia Buksar
IBM Media Relations
+1 201 693-7756
aabuksar@us.ibm.com
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SOURCE IBM