Apple teams up with Unisys on corporate accounts

Apple seems to be so serious about the enterprise that it's teaming up with an old-school integrator---Unisys.

According to Bloomberg, Apple has contracted with Unisys to sell its gear---iPads, iPhones and Macs---to corporate and government accounts. Bloomberg reports:

Unisys will provide maintenance and other services to companies and government agencies that purchase Apple devices, Gene Zapfel, a managing partner at Unisys, said in an interview. One of the first of its kind for Apple, the contract was signed this month, Zapfel said. He didn’t discuss terms of the deal.

Why Unisys? For starters, Unisys has a decent presence in government accounts as well as the enterprise. It's no IBM, but Apple's enterprise footprint is near nil. Apple probably got favorable terms from Unisys and any revenue from the partnership is largely gravy for Steve Jobs & Co.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the Unisys partnership is that Apple is really getting focused on business. Now that word of the Unisys deal is out, look for other integrators to show interest. The big knock against Apple in the enterprise is the lack of support. These partnerships take those concerns off the table.

Related: Apple in the enterprise: Do the extra costs justify the value?

• Apple’s iPad goes to campus: A look at the opportunities, hurdles
• AT&T to sell iPads direct to the enterprise

• The truth about iPad: It’s only good for two things
• 20 apps that play to the iPad’s strengths
• Forrester: Apple’s iPhone, iPad secure enough for enterprises, but RIM rules security roost
• iPad Office app showdown: Four apps to help you get work done
• Apple’s iPad, iPhone and an enterprise halo effect
• AT&T exec: 4 out of 10 of our iPhone sales to enterprises
• Apple’s quiet iPhone enterprise efforts yield results
• Apple iPad: Breaking through in the enterprise
• Tech bigwigs in love with Apple’s iPad, push business case
• Apple: 3 million iPads in 80 days
• Apple iPad: The business review
• Apple iPad: The five biggest annoyances
• Photos: Useful apps for Apple iPad
• Apple iPad: Is there an ROI for business?
• Apple iPad for business: Three reasons to love it, three reasons to ignore it