The Canadian mobile giant will now include rivals iPhone and Android in its mobile device management suite
BlackBerry maker RIM has broken away from its tradition of supporting BlackBerry-only devices and has expanded into the multi-platform mobile device management marketplace with its new Mobile Fusion service, which will see it support Google Android and Apple iOS devices.
The company describes the new move as an effort to capitalise on the ‘consumerisation of IT’ trend of bring your own device (BYOD) that many businesses, including BlackBerry’s traditional heartlands of Fortune 500 companies, rolling out to staff.
“BlackBerry Mobile Fusion brings together our industry-leading BlackBerry Enterprise Server technology for BlackBerry devices with mobile device management capabilities for iOS and Android devices, all managed from one web-based console,” said Alan Panezic, Vice President, Enterprise Product Management and Marketing at Research In Motion.
“It provides the necessary management capabilities to allow IT departments to confidently oversee the use of both company-owned and employee-owned mobile devices within their organisations.”
BlackBerry Mobile Fusion includes BlackBerry® Enterprise Server (version 5.0.3) for BlackBerry smartphones; new management capabilities for BlackBerry PlayBook tablets built on BlackBerry Enterprise Server technology; and mobile device management for smartphones and tablets running Android and iOS operating systems.
