ORLANDO, USA: IBM and Research In Motion (RIM) are taking mobile work far beyond email by delivering to mainstream business professionals the full line of Web 2.0-powered IBM Lotus collaboration software and information on demand on the market-leading BlackBerry platform.

The joint initiative enables customers to securely manage their communications, contacts and schedules and collaborate and network through social software, all from within the familiar, intuitive interface of their BlackBerry smartphones. This includes the general availability of the new BlackBerry Client for IBM Lotus Connections, IBM’s social software for business, at a time when eMarketer forecasts that mobile social networking will grow from 82 million users in 2007 to over 800 million worldwide by 2012.

This year, for the first time, more people in the world will have a mobile device than a landline telephone. IBM’s Institute for Business Value predicts one billion mobile Web users by 2011 and a significant shift in the way the majority of people will interact with the Web over the next decade.

IBM and RIM are making the following technologies portable and accessible, anytime and anywhere:

* Portals & Dashboards: IBM WebSphere Portal and IBM dashboard software lets businesses build Web sites and single screen dashboard views that deliver information, applications and processes personalized to the individual BlackBerry smartphone user.

* Social Networking: The BlackBerry Client for IBM Lotus Connections helps people tap into the collective knowledge of others and find the people and information they need for the task at hand while on the go.

* Messaging and Calendaring: BlackBerry® Enterprise Server for IBM Lotus Notes and Domino enables access to key email and calendaring functions as well as custom applications built with Lotus Domino.

* Unified Communications: The BlackBerry Client for IBM Lotus Sametime lets people access their full buddy list, send and receive instant messages, view presence information and convert an IM session to a phone call with a simple click.

* Business Intelligence: IBM Cognos 8 Go! Mobile business intelligence software is the industry’s first business intelligence solution designed specifically for the BlackBerry platform. It provides personalized secure business information in the right context to allow people to view and interact with dashboard-style reports to make informed decisions while they are on the move.