BlackBerry shares surged Monday following the announcement of a deal with Sprint and the launch of new products and services at the Mobile World Congress. Under the new agreement, Sprint will offer BlackBerry’s BES12 enterprise mobility management solutions to its enterprise customers.
Cloud version to help BlackBerry expand in enterprise mobility
With the help of BES12, companies can track employees’ mobile phones, irrespective of the platform they are using, as BES12 is compatible across other operating systems. Sprint will also give access to BlackBerry’s BBM Meetings, BBM Protected and BlackBerry Blend products to its enterprise customers.
Further, during the MWC, the Canadian company noted that it will offer a cloud-based version of its device management platform to enable small- and medium-sized businesses to use the service and secure devices on their own network. BlackBerry’s device management and security capabilities are respected in the industry, as the company offers services primarily to government agencies and corporations.
BlackBerry Chief Operation Officer Marty Beard said, “We are trying to broaden the enterprise mobility management space,” and a cloud version will help the Canadian firm to do just that.
Useful for both small and big firms
BlackBerry’s BES12 is capable of managing and securing all platforms, including Android, Apple’s iOS and Microsoft’s Windows Phone. Additionally, the software is capable of managing and securing medical diagnostic equipment, industrial machinery and even cars. After bringing its offerings onto the cloud, small- and medium-sized businesses that can’t afford to get expensive servers managed and installed will be able to utilize the services.
According to Beard, BlackBerry is experiencing higher growth from smaller companies for cloud-based device management offerings and also getting demand from larger companies that have various groups and need cloud-based capabilities.
“This is definitely not just an offering for the small- and medium-sized businesses, but something we think larger companies will be interested in as well,” Beard noted. India’s Essar Group, a conglomerate with over 60,000 employees in over two dozen countries, has signed up for a trial of the cloud-based version. Customers will be able to get their hands on the new cloud-based offering towards the end of this month.
On Monday, BlackBerry shares closed up by 2.22% at $11.05.
