Google, Samsung and team Android may have to form the equivalent of the enterprise Justice League to counter the Apple-IBM alliance as well as Microsoft's foothold in corporations.
The biggest challenge for team Android is that Google and Samsung, two partners with enterprise ambitions, will have to herd cats to reach corporations. Android will need channel, integration and services support and there are few players that can match IBM's reach.
To recap: IBM and Apple forged an alliance that revolves where Big Blue will create exclusive industry applications for iOS and use its services army to sprinkle iPads and iPhones in corporations. Apple wants more enterprise sales and IBM wants a mobile partner so it can layer in its cloud services. In the end, companies are going mobile first with cloud services on the backend.
In addition, Android's enterprise market share is the inverse in the enterprise when compared to Apple's iOS. Android dominates in the consumer world, but the enterprise is all about iOS. SAP, Oracle and Salesforce are mostly focused on iOS first with Android a close second. Most enterprise apps from the likes of Workday and other key players tend to favor iOS. In many ways, IBM just added to the pile-on.
IBM and Apple affect Microsoft somewhat, but if you buy into Satya Nadella's platform and productivity strategy the software giant may be a bit insulated. After all, Microsoft dominates in the enterprise, will make some serious mobile device management headway and has Office running better on iOS than its own Windows.
It's unclear how team Android will respond, but as Forrester analyst Frank Gillett noted, Google and leading enterprise suppliers will have to "seek partnerships that offer a credible alternative."
Let's think through how this Android Justice League could provide an iOS counterweight.
Google and Samsung will likely be ringleaders and form some kind of alliance with Accenture. The problem is that it's unclear whether any enterprise vendor would want to create an exclusive Android deal given iOS and its standing in corporations.
Hewlett-Packard will also play along, but the integration and channel work will have to be a larger cast. Team Android will need Accenture and HP to push Android in the enterprise.
SAP, Salesforce and others will stay out of the fray. Oracle will hope Android loses enterprise standing — since the company believes Google's mobile platform is only a Java rip-off.
Lenovo is a total wild card and could aim to tighten relationships with both Microsoft and Google. After all, Lenovo is ultimately trying to upend Apple in emerging markets.
If these companies banded together in some sort of Android enterprise alliance, the combination could be formidable. The issue is that team Android can't put together a one-stop partnership the way Apple and IBM did. Few companies have been able to combine forces to woo the enterprise. Cisco and EMC with VMware and Intel have been able to combine forces so they resemble one enterprise unit with VCE, but does anyone really expect a bunch of Android players to coordinate that well?