BlackBerry: CIOs' most preferred smartphone

NEW DELHI, INDIA: As CIOs are increasingly advocating mobility solutions in corporate parlance, Blackberry — a flagship brand of Research In Motion (RIM) — with its customized applications and smart devices sees a potential opportunity.

The smartphone major offers a comprehensive portfolio of enterprise mobility solutions which it believes are adapting to the needs of India’s CIOs and CFOs. RIM also feels that cheaper mobile tariffs will fuel device uptake in the enterprise arena.

For enterprise mobility, RIM has tied up with various companies in finance, healthcare, education, retail and other services in the country.

Sunil Lalvani, director - enterprise sales at RIM India, feels the corporate sector is looking beyond the traditional IT solutions, and consumer devices are being incorporated in workplaces. “Many enterprises today allow employee to bring their own devices.”

With 'bring your own device' (BYOD) concept, nearly 65 per cent of enterprises in India are looking at enhancing workforce efficiencies. “In order to comply with the security policies of outsourcing firms, camera feature can be turned off from server for a defined time-frame,” Lalvani added.

A third-party study conducted in collaboration with the CIO association of India (CAI) suggests that BlackBerry is the most popular enterprise platform, with 80 per cent of the respondents giving thumbs up to it. BlackBerry is also the most preferred solution partner for enterprise mobility with 61 per cent respondents favoring it, followed by Android which got only 18 per cent votes.

“With Blackberry devices in place, organizations can remotely and securely remove corporate data whenever an employee quits the company,” he said. “In addition to that, if an employee tries to copy and paste any data from the smartphone, the CIO gets instant alert.”

Mumbai-based Maestros Mediline Systems is using BlackBerry services on its tele-medicine platform to address the patients’ requirements remotely. It is also leveraging solution for digital conversion of ECG and information dissemination, and is seeking expert opinions via BlackBerry Messenger (BBM).

Maestros is optimistic about its new enterprise offerings and said customized applications are available on BlackBerry smartphone and PlayBook portfolio.