Rating: Lost in the BB10 disappointment is BlackBerry Balance
Of course, it was about time that Research In Motion (RIM) finally got wise to the fact that in future we can finally refer to the maker of the BlackBerry smartphone as BlackBerry instead. Good move. Years too late, though. RIM displayed an obvious ignorance of the power of brands by not renaming beforehand, of course. Overall, the industry reaction to the new Z10 hasn’t been very positive. However, that’s probably because mobile generalists fail to appreciate what put the BlackBerry up the top in the first place. It is a corporate tool. And the introduction of the new BlackBerry Balance feature means that organisations will feel a lot safer about deploying these smartphones within their own BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) strategy.
As Tudor Aw, head of technology for Europe with KPMG, comments, “Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the new BlackBerry smartphones is the BlackBerry Balance feature which allows you to flip your phone between personal apps and a secure corporate space.
Aw continues, “Content cannot be transferred between these two screens thus keeping the Corporate space secure.”
“None of the other mobile phone companies have unique differentiators to attract corporate customers.”
This is stretching the truth somewhat given that if you know what you’re doing, it’s quite possible to install apps which will provide very similar features.
Aw’s point, however, is that thanks to Balance, such a facility comes by default. Meaning that IT departments don’t have to go to considerable trouble to ensure their users handsets boast a similar functionality.
As Aw says, “I[Balance] is a smart move to target the Enterprise segment in this way as it is a clear differentiator from Apple and Samsung”. too right.
As Awa correctly surmises, “It will help corporate IT departments to regain control over the runaway ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) phenomenon.”
So, in effect, BlackBerry has come up with a ‘killer feature’ that will satisfy both corporate IT departments whilst still keeping consumers happy.
Significantly, Microsoft likes to paint itself as catering for the corporate environment with its Windows Phone 8 offering. Why else would you like your desktop to look like your smartphone?
But it’s been caught napping with such a clever move by BlackBerry.
Balance’s potential is unlimited. Imagine, monitored SIP access (no abuse of company resources on personal phones), hopefully also camera pictures, voice memos, etc are also secured on the Enterprise Side.
In fact, this could be the start of Enterprise-As-A-Service — BlackBerry as your secure content retainer.