RIM is finally starting to see the light, sort of. They are beginning to realize that Android and iOS are very real threats not only to the Blackberry phone division, which obviously a big part of RIM, but to the entire company and their business. As a way to stop their financials from going downhill fast, and as a way to keep their relatively strong position in enterprise, RIM is going to offer their security solutions for Android and iOS as well.
“We are pleased to introduce BlackBerry Mobile Fusion — RIM’s next generation enterprise mobility solution — to make it easier for our business and government customers to manage the diversity of devices in their operations today,” said Alan Panezic, RIM’s vice president of enterprise product management and marketing.
“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,” Panezic said. “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 organizations.”
RIM is still used by many enterprises today, and we all know that enterprises are slow to change, but that doesn’t mean change is not inevitable if RIM doesn’t do anything about it. At this point they pretty much have no choice left, and they have to offer as many of their services and products that available only on Blackberry phones before, to Android and iOS. At least if the Blackberry phone dies for good, they can still salvage some of their business in the enterprise market, and live to fight another day (or decade).
While this is being announced right now, the roll-out of BlackBerry Mobile Fusion won’t start until late March next year.