Research In Motion (RIM) today launched the BlackBerry
Mobile Fusion, RIM's mobile device management (MDM)
solution, asoftware that enables its large "enterprise"
customers to manage Apple and other devices through the
same servers as they use for the BlackBerry smartphone
and Playbook tablet.
BlackBerry Mobile Fusion delivers a secure and scalable
solution that consolidates the management of smartphones
and tablets running BlackBerry OS (including support for
BlackBerry PlayBook and future BlackBerr? 10 devices) as
well as Android and iOS, and provides a unified,
web-based console for easily managing all devices.
"For businesses and government, managing a mix of mobile
devices on any scale is chaotic. Organizations face
pressure to allow employees to bring their own devices
into the workplace, and they are looking to RIM as the
global leader in the enterprise mobility space to solve
that problem," said Alan Panezic, Vice President,
Enterprise Product Management and Marketing at Research
In Motion. "BlackBerry Mobile Fusion allows organizations
to manage a mixed environment of devices in the most
secure, simple, and cost efficient manner possible. It
also means that businesses and government do not have to
move to the lowest common denominator on security for all
the devices they need to manage."
BlackBerry Mobile Fusion integrates the features and
security architecture of BlackBerry Enterprise Server
(version 5.0.3), providing IT management and controls, a
single outbound security connection (256-bit AES
encrypted "BlackBerry VPN"), enforceable IT policies,
support for BlackBerry Balance technology, and
over-the-air app and software installation capabilities
for the management of BlackBerry smartphones and PlayBook
tablets (as well as future BlackBerry 10 devices).
BlackBerry Mobile Fusion also provides mobile device
management capabilities for iOS and Android devices
including:
-- Support for multiple devices per user
-- Application and software management
-- Connectivity management (Wi-Fi, VPN,
certificates)
-- Centralized, easy to use, unified web-based
console
-- Security and policy definition and management
-- Asset management
-- Configuration management
-- Security and protection for lost or stolen devices
(remote lock, wipe)
-- User- and group-based administration
-- High scalability
BlackBerry Mobile Fusion software is available as a free
download and is priced by the number of devices being
managed. Client access licenses (CALs) start at $99 per
user or $4 per user per month (billed annually); volume
discounts are also available. In addition, RIM is
offering a 60 day free trial, so its customers can deploy
a pilot before purchasing a single CAL. The 60 day free
trial is available at
https://www.blackberry.com/eBES/trialOrder.do?id=121.
In a second announcement on Tuesday, the company said its
PlayBook tablet now boasts 15,000 applications - still
just a tiny fraction of the number available on the iPad.
One of the biggest complaints about RIM's products is the
dearth of content and applications.