The popularity of the Apple (News - Alert) mobile platform is undeniable among consumers, but in the enterprise sector, the company had been struggling for some time. However, its fortunes changed when Apple and IBM (News - Alert) teamed up to create enterprise applications as well as offering its popular mobile devices to corporate customers in 2014. At the time of the announcement, Apple CEO, Tim Cook, said he looked forward to leveraging IBM’s strengths in big data analytics and cloud in order to make iOS a viable platform to enterprise customers. A year later, and IBM just announced a new cloud-based IT services that integrates Macs with enterprise systems and applications.

According to the announcement, IBM will commercialize the new MobileFirst Managed Mobility Services to deliver an easy, secure self-service and support for Macs. This new solution will help large enterprises integrate Macs within their IT infrastructure as the numbers for PCs continue to decline.

The company said that shipments of Macs have been growing faster than the industry average and the Apple system has also outgrown the PC industry every year for the last decade. This has pushed the company to use its experience in enterprise deployments to address a wide range of issues, including the ability to scale according to the needs of each client.

As more enterprises show interest in adopting Macs into their ecosystem, IBM is providing the platform as a standard service offering, which are being delivered as a software-as-a-service solution through the cloud or on-premises in the client’s data center.

“Ease of adoption and use are at the foundation of every Apple product, and as these devices are used more in the workplace, people expect the same experience they enjoy with Apple technology in their personal lives,” said Richard Patterson, general manager, Infrastructure Services, IBM Global Technology (News - Alert) Services.

IBM is collaborating with Casper Suite from JAMF Software to simplify the integration of Apple products so clients can order the Macs and have them deployed to securely gain network access without additional set-up, imaging or configuration. The collaboration between the two companies will allow enterprises to purchase MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, iMac, and Mac Pro, and integrate them across the IT infrastructure and employees.

The partnership between IBM and Apple is extending beyond creating new products and services. IBM is putting its money where its mouth is by purchasing Apple devices for most of its workforce. According to the Wall Street Journal, IBM’s workforce is currently using 110,000 Apple devices, including 43,000 iPads. And a leaked video last week showed IBM’s CIO Jeff Smith (News - Alert) saying the company  may be purchasing up to 200,000 MacBooks from Apple. He went on to say 50 to 75 percent of its employees may change to MacBooks. This would make IBM the largest corporate customer for MacBooks in the world