Fixed Mobile Convergence

The market for Mobile Device Management (MDM) software – which secures, monitors, manages and supports mobile devices deployed across mobile operators, service providers and enterprises – is on the rise, as the demand for mobile devices has increased and is emerging as one of the primary technologies used by enterprises to secure smartphones or tablets.

The investments on MDM suites have also increased, as businesses have been working to gain some level of control over employee-owned endpoints. Cashing-in on this trend, Research In Motion (RIM) has launched its RIM's next-generation mobile device management (MDM) solution, BlackBerry Mobile Fusion for enterprise customers.

Facilitating a cost-efficient, secure, reliable and scalable solution, the new highly-anticipated MDM solution can consolidate the management of smartphones and tablets running BlackBerry OS, including support for BlackBerry PlayBook and future BlackBerry 10 devices, as well as other mobile OS such as Android (News - Alert) and iOS.

Offering a single, unified, web-based console for easy management of all devices, the new BlackBerry Mobile Fusion integrates advanced features and security architecture of BlackBerry (News - Alert) Enterprise Server (version 5.0.3).

This integration provides advanced IT management and controls, a single outbound security connection (256-bit AES encrypted “BlackBerry VPN”), enforceable IT policies, support for BlackBerry Balance technology, and over-the-air app and software installation capabilities for the management of BlackBerry smartphones and PlayBook tablets, said officials with RIM in a statement.

Alan Panezic (News - Alert), VP of Enterprise Product Management and Marketing at Research In Motion, said in a statement, “For businesses and government, managing a mix of mobile devices on any scale is chaotic. Organizations face pressure to allow employees to bring their own devices into the workplace, and they are looking to RIM as the global leader in the enterprise mobility space to solve that problem.”

Panezic added, “BlackBerry Mobile Fusion allows organizations to manage a mixed environment of devices in the most secure, simple, and cost efficient manner possible. It also means that businesses and government do not have to move to the lowest common denominator on security for all the devices they need to manage.”

Users of BlackBerry smartphones can not only leverage their current end-to-end BlackBerry security infrastructure, but can also have flexible options for individually liable devices while keeping costs low.

Apart from providing support for multiple devices per user and offering application and software management, the BlackBerry Mobile Fusion also features connectivity management through Wi-Fi, VPN, certificates; configuration management; security and protection for lost or stolen devices; and more.

Available as a free download, the BlackBerry Mobile Fusion is priced by the number of devices being managed. The solution’s Client access licenses (CALs) start at $99 per user or $4 per user per month (billed annually).