Research In Motion on Tuesday launched
software that enables it s large "enterprise" customers to manage Apple
and other rival devices through the same servers as they use for the
BlackBerry smartphone and Playbook tablet. The new Mobile
Fusion software, first announced in November , is a recognition by RIM
of a growing preference by many users inside big corporations and
government to access professional communications over their personal
devices, often the Apple iPhone or iPad, or devices running Google's
Android.
RIM, which long dominated the so-called enterprise market, has
watched the BlackBerry's market share steadily erode in recent years.
Unable to arrest the trend, the company now aims to generate a fresh
revenue stream from it. Mobile Fusion will cost $99 per user to license
and $4 per user a month, with discounts available for bulk orders.
In a second announcement on Tuesday that highlights RIM's eroding
market position, it 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.
A recent survey from Appcelerator and IDC showed less than 16 percent
of developers were "very interested" in creating programs for RIM,
compared with 90 percent for Apple and 80 percent for Android.
The Canadian company has sought to win over developers, and it
claimed the figure announced on Tuesday was evidence of growth. RIM has
more than 70,000 apps in its App World store for either BlackBerry
phones or the PlayBook tablet, which compares with 200,000 iPad apps,
and half a million for the iPhone.
The BlackBerry has appealed to big organizations because of the
water-tight security afforded by the enterprise network. It enables
businesses to control access by setting password rules, blocking or
pushing access to certain applications and remotely wiping lost or
stolen devices. But that appeal has started to fade. As rival devices
have grown in popularity, in part because of the wealth of apps
available for them, companies have started to hire third-party
management services from the likes of Good Technology and Mobile Iron to
replicate the features of RIM's enterprise network. Fusion is largely
RIM's response to that reality.