BlackBerry CEO John Chen has been on the job for almost a month now, and he is making good on his promise to focus on the software side of the business. Last week the company said that its popular BlackBerry Messenger app will be installed on Android phones in emerging markets around the world, and this week Chen told enterprise customers that BlackBerry wants to be their mobile device management solution, regardless of which devices they deploy.
Starting this month, mobile device distributor Brightstar will install BBM on Android devices, as will 11 device manufacturers that focus on emerging markets. About 80 million people use the BBM app, and about 20 million of those are using it on a non-BlackBerry device. BBM for iOS and Android was released this fall, shortly before Chen took over the troubled company.
While BBM is clearly BlackBerry’s most popular consumer product, its key offering for the enterprise market is mobile device management. Yesterday Chen issued an open letter to BlackBerry’s enterprise customers, acknowledging the fact that competitors are portraying BlackBerry as a company without a future.
“We are very much alive,” Chen wrote, adding that the investments customers have made in BlackBerry’s infrastructure and solutions are secure. “Our competitors want you to think that BES only manages BlackBerry devices, and that we are somehow more expensive than other MDMs,” wrote Chen. “This is false.”
“We will manage all devices,” Chen said, adding that already BlackBerry manages more mobile devices than any other vendor, and moves more secure mobile data than anyone else. In his letter Chen stated clearly that BlackBerry is ready and willing to work with other devices and other operating systems. “Whether you’re deploying corporate-owned iPads or allowing BYOD Android devices, security is paramount,” he wrote. “BYOD users may be able to bring any device to work, but it’s our job to ensure that risk doesn’t follow them in.”
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