Apple launches federal integrator strategy

Apple Corp. is quietly launching partnerships with large and small prime contractors to chase enterprise information system projects. Who are the early adopters?

Apple Corp. is looking to take a larger bite out of the government IT pie.

The company recently launched a program to formalize relationships with systems integrators and sell its products — chief among them, the iPad tablet computer and the iPhone — on an enterprise level in the government and commercial markets.

One of those systems integrators is Agilex Corp. of Chantilly, Va., a 3-year-old firm that is Apple’s first government-focused contractor in the program, said Tim Hoechst, chief technology officer of Agilex.

“Apple has a new program they have created only in the last few months that they call their authorized systems integrator program,” he said. “It’s new for Apple to have relationships with systems integrators. That’s a very enterprise concept and it underlines their move to be able to support the enterprise, and so they created this program and their goal was to sign up companies as partners in several different categories, small systems integrators and some large systems integrators.”

Ostensibly among the large systems integrators is Unisys Corp. A Unisys official declined to discuss the details of its arrangement with Apple. The company released the following statement to Washington Technology: “As a systems integrator, Unisys has many relationships with equipment providers. We can confirm that Unisys has a systems integrator relationship with Apple in the U.S. enterprise space and we look forward to working with them…. As this relationship is still in its early stages, we cannot provide further specifics at this time.”

Apple is “pursuing a wide variety of systems integrators to be part of this, and Unisys is clearly among those that have part of this,” Hoechst said.

Apple did not respond to Washington Technology’s requests for comment.

Shawn McCarthy, research director for IDC Government Insights, described Unisys’ initiative with Apple as a “smart move,” although he added “it’s tough to know what it will mean in the long term.”

“All sorts of business arrangements and business deals are announced all the time, but whether they are leveraged into something really productive is obviously up to the parties involved,” he said. “What Unisys provides is that it fills a slot where Apple was maybe a little bit behind the curve. If you have [a company that] can sell, install and support — especially support — Apple products, that’s a good thing because Apple is not as known for its support for the long term of its own products.”

McCarthy said the biggest chunk of government IT spending currently is going into IT services, not hardware and software. “So in order to sell to the government, you have to play nicely with the system integrators, and Apple realized that, just like most other" vendors, he said. “If you look at most of the major hardware and software vendors, they have multiple deals with systems integrators.”

Agilex formalized its arrangement as an authorized systems integrator with Apple about three months ago, bringing enterprise integration expertise that Apple needs to dispense its products in the government market, Hoechst said.

As a predominantly consumer-oriented company, Apple has “a great deal of expertise in their products, but they don’t necessarily have the background in enterprise information systems,” he said. “They are relying on us to uncover all the ways in which Apple technologies can be leveraged inside big enterprises.”

Mobile technologies are stirring “a tidal wave” of interest among government enterprise customers, and Apple’s products are well-suited to meet that demand, Hoechst said.

“We see an enthusiasm in government as it relates to the iPhone but now even more with the iPad,” he said. “Our customers [want to] make these things work in their missions…where their mobile workforce is enabled by them.”

Hoechst said that his company is working on several agency projects with Apple mobile products that are still in the early stages. Agencies “are starting to build out prototypes, proofs of concept and early test cases of applications that are mission-oriented, and we are working on several of those...in our markets,” including the health care, national security and intelligence communications sectors, he said.

One project, for example, involves using iPads to get health information to care providers, Hoechst said. “It’s very much about testing the water,” he added.

Agilex also is committed under its partnership with Apple to deploying Apple products in its own business processes, Hoechst said.

“In becoming a partner we committed to supporting Apple technologies — their Macintoshes and mobile devices — on our networks, that [for example] we would have folks inside our business who are trained to do system administration because this is not just about the iPhone. It’s about all of Apple’s products, and we want to make sure that we are supporting Apple in our own business and not just in the business of our customers,” he said. “We want to make sure we have all the required expertise to serve our common customers.”

NEXT STORY: Why not more software reuse?

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.