RIM streamlines BlackBerry for smaller businesses

Research In Motion Ltd. is targeting small and medium-sized businesses with a new BlackBerry software offering for up to 30 users.
The Waterloo, Ontario-based developer released BlackBerry Professional Software, a “streamlined” offering that allows users to access e-mail, Internet and intranet applications on the go. The product is designed to minimize installation and administration costs, the company said, and can be installed on the same server as a company’s e-mail application such as those provided by Microsoft Corp. and IBM.
The move is the latest effort by RIM to move beyond high-powered executives toward more mainstream users. The company last year began targeting more casual users with its consumer-targeted Pearl device, and BlackBerry partnered with Facebook during the CTIA I.T. & Entertainment conference in San Francisco last month to tout a new mobile widget for the popular social-networking site.
The software is available at $500 for five users and $849 for 10 users; either package can be expanded to support as many as 30 users with the purchase of additional licenses.
“Productivity and flexibility are obviously important for small and medium-sized businesses and we know that the majority of these businesses are interested in a wireless solution, but many have been waiting for a server product that can afford greater IT simplicity while still allowing a superior quality of experience for users,” said RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis.