With a week to go to the launch of BlackBerry 10, Research In Motion (RIM) has announced that BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 (BES 10) is now available for download.
Given RIM's previous dominance in the corporate mobility space, BES 10 is a vital component of the BlackBerry 10 ecosystem. A challenge for RIM ahead of the BlackBerry 10 launch is to make it as simple as possible for the new devices to be supported in the corporate environment in order to keep existing corporate customers on board.
RIM says BES 10 is the evolution of its enterprise mobile management solutions and offers support for all BlackBerry devices, as well as iOS and Android. Until now, enterprises could use RIM's Mobile Fusion service to manage PlayBook tablets, iOS and Android devices while using the previous version of BES to manage BlackBerry smartphones. BES 10 now offers the ability to manage these various components from a single Web console.
It has been noted that, while the current version of BES 10 incorporates Mobile Fusion and RIM's older BlackBerry management software into a single console, organisations still need to run the Mobile Fusion and BlackBerry Enterprise Server on different servers. According to RIM, a BES 10 update (expected to be released in May), will allow for all the infrastructure components to run on the same server.
According to RIM, through its BlackBerry 10 Ready programme, existing customers will be able to trade in their existing BES licences for BES 10 licences at no charge until the end of the year. The BES 10 software is also available as a limited 60-day free-trial and is available here.
RIM says BES 10 offers support for corporate-owned and personal device deployments. "It includes an intuitive, unified, Web-based administration console to manage devices and users. It also supports BlackBerry Balance technology," says RIM.
BlackBerry Balance separates and secures work applications and data from personal content within a single device.
BES 10 also offers access to RIM's new corporate app storefront for BlackBerry 10, BlackBerry World for Work. "Administrators can push and install the organisation's mandatory apps to both corporate and personal-owned devices and publish recommended apps to employees," says RIM.
Rapid switch
Speaking to Reuters, RIM's senior head of enterprise software, Peter Devenyi, said BES 10 builds on RIM's core strength of security but also offers a range of innovations that cater to the latest needs of IT departments.
"We definitely anticipate that [enterprise] customers will be making the switch to BB10 rapidly," said Devenyi, adding that BlackBerry Balance is a key differentiator which is now built into the core of BlackBerry 10.
"This opens up the world of personally-owned devices in a way that makes IT departments and corporations comfortable, because they can truly manage the corporate side of the device, while not inhibiting the use of the device by the individual who actually owns it."
The BlackBerry Balance feature has also been welcomed by analysts. Scotiabank analyst Gus Papageorgiou says it could be a big factor in swaying enterprise customers to adopt BlackBerry 10 devices. "The BB10's ability to segment between corporate and personal settings will be a hit with enterprise IT departments and users alike."
Next week's BlackBerry 10 launch is billed as the most important launch in RIM's history, and will be marked with numerous events around the world.
RIM shares rallied yesterday on the back of comments made by RIM CEO Thorsten Heins during an interview with German newspaper Die Welt. Heins said he would be willing to discuss the possibility of licensing RIM's BlackBerry 10 OS to other companies and "the sale of hardware production". Heins, however, emphasised that the current focus is on launching the new OS.
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