When John Chen was installed as BlackBerry’s boss this time last year, the once mighty mobile maker was in a very bad way. For the company to have any chance of survival, the new CEO insisted it had to focus on several key areas, among them software and services.
With that strategy now at the forefront of its operation, BlackBerry has done a deal with Samsung that will help to deliver an end-to-end secure Android mobility solution by integrating its new BlackBerry Enterprise Server 12 mobile management system with Samsung’s business-focused Knox platform, which lets smartphone users safely operate a single mobile device for both personal and work use.
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The deal, announced Thursday at an enterprise event in San Francisco, may seem odd to some – after all, BlackBerry has long been lauded for its reliable and effective mobile security features, and now it’s inked an agreement with the maker of phones that helped bring the company to its knees. The move, however, appears to underline the fact that BlackBerry now accepts its position as a somewhat minor player when it comes to smartphone sales, and that doing deals involving stronger parts of its business is the best way forward.
While the arrangement should help BlackBerry collect some much needed revenue from firms that go with a Knox/BES 12 mobile system for their business, Samsung has the chance to improve its position in the enterprise market thanks to BlackBerry’s strong reputation for security.
“Samsung and BlackBerry share many customers across highly-regulated verticals, including government, financial services, healthcare and others, whose needs can be uniquely met with the combined Knox and BES 12 solution,” Samsung said in a release.
The offering from the two companies should be available early next year, and will come with support for a wide range of Galaxy smartphones and tablets, Samsung said.
