Twitter and IBM have formed a partnership that will enable IBM to provide its clients with Twitter data as part of its suite of analytics tools.
The partnership will give app developers the ability to embed Twitter data into applications that leverage IBM Watson and IBM's Bluemix platform, among other uses.
As part of the agreement, the two companies will produce enterprise applications that integrate Twitter data with IBM's ExperienceOne customer engagement solutions. This tool will give sales, marketing, and customer service teams the ability to trace tweets back to product and brand sentiment.
IBM and Twitter have also collaborated on a consultancy that will provide specific verticals with practical information on how to leverage IBM solutions and Twitter data to improve business results.
It happened again
This isn't the first time Twitter and IBM have gotten together to deal. Earlier this year, Twitter paid $36 million (£21.5 million, AU$39.5 million) to buy 900 patents from IBM.
Twitter bought the patents to avoid a legal dispute with IBM over the possible infringement of three or more of its patents, according to an SEC filing.
Crossover appeal
The industry has witnessed a significant amount of crossover recently, as analytics vendors and enterprise app developers partner with consumer-focused technology companies to improve access to data.
IBM recently formed a partnership with Apple to develop more than 100 industry-specific apps developed exclusively for Apple's mobile devices, including native applications.
Earlier this year, Twitter agreed to acquire social data technology provider Gnip. The acquisition was designed to enable Twitter to provide enhanced user data to third-parties.
