BlackBerry Secure Work Space To Protect Android And iOS Devices

BlackBerry has launched BlackBerry Secure Work Space, a mobile device management (MDM) offering that allows government and corporate customers to secure and manage Android and iOS devices on their networks.

BlackBerry Secure Work Space is managed through BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 (BES) and will emulate some of the functionality of BlackBerry Balance, which is an integral part of BlackBerry 10, and allows enterprise to have control over confidential data without removing any functionality.

BlackBerry Balance effectively creates two different profiles on any device, with administrators able to create their own application store that host custom apps as well as software from the public BlackBerry App World that has been approved for use in the workspace. Once approved, these applications can interact with other work apps and secure data.

BlackBerry Secure Work Space

Secure Work Space will operate slightly differently, but will provide secured client applications for email, calendar, contacts, tasks, memos, secure browsing and document editing, while additional apps can be secured and added to the workplace without the need to modify the source code.

The launch is indicative of BlackBerry’s renewed focus on multi-platform services, given its decreasing share of the smartphone market. BlackBerry has installed 18,000 BES10 servers since it launched in January, with 60 percent of US Fortune 500 customers testing or using the service.

The Canadian manufacturer isn’t giving up on smartphones though, having launched three handsets running the BlackBerry 10 platform, the BlackBerry Z10, BlackBerry Q10 and BlackBerry Q5. However a growing portfolio of products will allow it to offer high margin services to customers even it is unable to recover its market share.

A cross-platform version of BlackBerry Messenger is expected to be released for iOS and Android later this summer, although the company claims this will not be on 27 June as had been reported.

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