Editor’s note: Ezra Gottheil, is Principal Analyst with Technology Business Research.

HAMPTON, N.H. - There is no downside for either company in the Apple-IBM partnership.

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced a partnership in which IBM will deliver software and services to leverage iPhones and iPads in delivering IBM solutions. Solutions will include security and analytics as well as mobile integration and management. Apple will service the solutions, as well as their devices, through the AppleCare extended warranty and support program. IBM will sell Apple devices with IBM solutions.

Both companies benefit; Apple increases its business presence, at the expense of Android, Windows and Blackberry, and IBM extends the utility of its analytics solutions and gains from sales of management and security solutions for iPhones and iPads. Neither company gives up anything. IBM may make similar partnerships with Android device vendors, but Apple’s strong presence, and the uniting of both software and hardware in one vendor that can deliver superior service, make it the easiest platform to begin with.

TBR believes the principal impact of this statement will be on the perception of the two companies. IBM and other large software and solutions vendors have been integrating mobile applications with their enterprise solutions for years. Apple makes its devices enterprise-friendly with improvements to security, manageability and content distribution as long as they do not affect the user experience.

Apple and IBM, however much they are legendary opposites, collaborated years ago on the PowerPC. The announcement improves the perception of both companies: Apple appears more business-friendly, while IBM appears more attuned to the consumer-centric realities of mobility.

As part of the announcement presentation, it was announced that the IBM “back end” analytics applications are engineered for integration with iOS “front ends.” If this integration includes Siri pseudo-natural language that helps business users compose queries, this will be a major innovation, the first available implementation of this very important innovation.

A similar capability would significantly enhance the ERP interface.

This innovation would give both IBM and Apple a first-mover advantage in what TBR believes will be an important expansion of utilization of big data and ERP data.

(C) TBR