BlackBerry-maker RIM unveils Mobile Fusion

TORONTO: Research in Motion (RIM) will offer companies software to manage the iPhones and other handsets that are increasingly displacing its once-dominant BlackBerry, seeking to bolster relationships with corporate customers.

BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, as the device-management software is known, will be available in the first quarter and can run alongside or replace the BlackBerry Enterprise Server networks RIM now operates for companies and government agencies, said Alan Panezic, vice-president of platform product management.

"This is a really, really important strategic move," he said in an interview. RIM is conducting trials with financial-services, manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies, he said. The flow of devices such as Apple's iPhone into the workplace is accelerating as companies seek to save money by letting workers use their own devices and making those more secure, rather than giving workers corporate-issued BlackBerrys. With the new software, RIM is offering a solution that lets corporations manage BlackBerrys as well as rival devices.

"There's big demand for this area and the big advantage RIM will have is the idea you can not only manage your BlackBerry but manage your other platforms from a single console," said Phil Redman, an analyst with Gartner in Stamford, Connecticut.

RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, posted its first quarterly revenue decline in nine years in September and its US market share sank to 9.2 per cent in the third quarter from 24 per cent a year earlier, according to research firm Canalys.

'Different space'
That happened as rivals like Apple and Samsung Electronics, which uses Google's Android software, offered phones with better Web-browsing and a wider selection of downloadable apps. RIM's struggles prompted Mike Abramsky, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, to suggest the company could create more value for shareholders by splitting into a network-management business and a handset business.

Panezic, who has been at RIM for 11 years, said BlackBerry Mobile Fusion isn't a major strategic shift in the company's direction. RIM is well-placed to offer such software given its track record of building and operating servers for its clients. "Everything we do is a combination of hardware and software and the integration of those together with a network experience," said Panezic. "All we're doing is stepping into a different space here."

(Follow timesofoman.com on Facebook and on Twitter for updates that you can share with your friends.)