Although mobile business apps are still a bit lacking compared to the consumer market, IBM and Apple want to change this by releasing 10 made-for-business apps.

Apple has developed the apps specifically for iPhone and iPad, and unlike typical apps that offer just one or two features, all 10 apps will work on top of IBM's cloud and analytics service.

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Citi, Air Canada, Sprint and Banorte and IBM MobileFirst for iOS will be the first partners. Businesses will have to partner up with IBM, working with the various tools available.

The apps will be business-to-business and business-to-consumer, allowing organizations to utilize the apps as services for consumers or clients.

The 10 apps include:

• Passenger+ - Allows flight attendants to quickly spot VIP customers and rearrange seating plans. The app will also integrate with Passbook, allowing flight attendants to quickly change tickets and send them to the user's Passbook account.
• Plan Flight - Offers information about fuel levels, cost for flight, attendants and more. Allows flight managers to budget and make sure everything is above board before takeoff.
• Retention - Uses IBM analytics tools to offer the best advice for insurance firms when talking to clients, including smart alerts, reminders and recommendations.
• Expert Tech - Utilizes FaceTime and Apple Maps to offer video calls to customers and easy locations services, if the company needs to send out a technician. Technicians can pull up data on the issue from IBM's cloud storage to get quick details on how to fix the issue.
• Advise & Grow - Allows bank managers to check clients in a secure encrypted environment and receive recommendations on the best course of action.
• Trusted Advise - Allows managers to access and modify client portfolios on-the-go, offering detailed analysis from IBM's cloud services.
• Sales Assist - Retail managers are able to check clients profile for past purchases, offer other recommended items and check stock inventory.
• Pick & Pack - Automated refillment and management of stock.
• Case Advise - Offers a solution on a case-by-case basis for government and law makers, allowing them to make the right decision for families through analytics.
• Incident Aware - A real time map of a local area, showing crimes committed, video playback and other features and analytics; allowing police to better patrol the area.

All of these applications offer different features for different types of organizations. It is clear both Apple and IBM want to win over clients, and this is only the start for the push into enterprise.

Tagsbusiness apps, iPhone, Ipad, enterprise