IBM and Apple’s mobile business apps have come to the Apple Watch at last, and while only three apps are compatible with the Apple Watch thus far, Apple and IBM’s visions of delivering timely business and other information and notifications to users direct to the wrist, beyond the smartphone and tablet, are now a reality.

The ‘Apple + IBM’ page at Apple’s site list selection of apps Apple and IBM deem are part of a ‘new class - entirely reimagined for the mobile enterprise, made for iOS, and designed to empower employees wherever their work takes them.’

The three Apple Watch compatible apps thus far are Hospital RN, Field Connect and Incident Aware.

Hospital RN ‘gives the nurse the power to spend less time tracking down information and more time caring for patients’. Its description says it uses iBeacon technology to accurately identify patients by location, so correct records can be found and appropriate care given.

While push notifications to the iPhone app already exists, Apple Watch wearers can now get notifications of new patient requests, changes in lab status, safety alerts and prioritised task lists.

Notifications on the wrist can be easily dealt with, avoiding the need to reach for the phone, so the caregiver can get back to giving care, rather than spending extra time fiddling with technology.

The Field Connect app transforms the way technicians do their jobs and respond to calls, with Apple Watch letting field technicians view important alerts without stopping what they’re doing.

Incident Aware is for public safety officials getting increased awareness of events as they unfold. The Apple Watch extension means urgent alerts go right to the wrist.

Clearly, Apple Watch is serving as a way to get the most important information directly to users, without them needing to reach for iPhones and iPads first, and it’s just the beginning of how wearables will augment our lives.

Apple and IBM announced their partnership last year, and have since announced that they are working with Japan Post Group, to deliver iPads and custom apps to connect the elderly in Japan to services, family and community. 

The deal promises to radically transform mobile enterprise and mobile business for the better, with IBM’s back-end software coupled with Apple’s incomparable ecosystem of hardware, software, OS, developer and existing business focus, it has continued growing.

IBM boasts its MobileFirst for iOS apps ’will unlock untold occasions to enrich customer service, strengthen brand loyalty, shrink operating expenses and produce new efficiencies.’

And all as an ‘instant, turnkey access to best-in-class enterprise mobility’ with integration, security, management and support covered so any enterprise in any industry ‘can take advantage of the opportunities mobile technologies present.’

That’s as IBM explains it. 

It’s a direct attack on Microsoft and Google’s hardware, OS and software, and everyone else’s enterprise and business solutions, it pits two former foes into an extremely prominent position at a time when Apple only grows stronger.

And, with Apple preparing to unveil new iPads this year, after having sold 67 million in 2014, and over 34 million in 2015 already (according to Gartner), the best is still yet to come.

So, IBM’s business apps have arrived to the Apple Watch, with plenty more Apple Watch arrivals still to come.