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Gregory Wade, Director of Asia Pacific, Research In Motion,
drives BlackBerry growth and success in market and is responsible for building
and cultivating RIM's relationships with various partners and carriers
offering the BlackBerry solution in the region. While talking to Shipra Arora of
Dataquest, he delves into key issues pertaining CIOs looking at
mobile enabling their enterprise, BlackBerry and more
What is the current status in terms of adoption levels in the
Indian market and where is it expected to go in the next 3 years?
A latest IDC report on the Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) market predicts
the mobile enterprise email growth rate for India from 2006 to 2010 at a CAGR of
42.7%.
We have seen tremendous demands of BlackBerry from Indian
businesses and mobile professionals. The finding by IDC echoes the success of
BlackBerry in India and indicates that the need for enterprise mobility is here,
and will continue to have a huge impact on the way industries conduct their
business and daily operations. CIOs and IT decision makers need comprehensive
enterprise mobility solutions that can be easily integrated into the
organization's business strategy. They need solutions that integrate email,
personal information management, CRM/SFA, field service and vertical
applications.
India as a market is highly tech-savvy and technology-friendly,
which provides RIM with a very solid foundation to further boost BlackBerry
presence and expand use of applications beyond push email. As a result of this,
we see a potential demand for BlackBerry among various market segments in India.
What are the approaches to developing applications on BlackBerry?
There are two major approaches-Mobile Data System (MDS) and third parties
software.
As mentioned earlier, RIM enables beyond email applications via
MDS, which is an optimized application development framework for the BlackBerry
platform. It uses the same proven BlackBerry push-based delivery model and
advanced security features to deliver corporate data wirelessly. Customers who
want access to capability of MDS can purchase either the latest version of
BlackBerry enterprise server software which has incorporated MDS or the newest
announced standalone BlackBerry enterprise server software for MDS applications.
As part of the third parties software approach, RIM has launched
BlackBerry alliance programs. There are over 400 software vendors and service
providers who have joined the program to offer BlackBerry-related software and
system integration support. For personal users, most of the third party software
is available at www.handango.com/BlackBerry. Software is ranging from ring
tones, games and dictionaries to a broad range of personal productivity tools.
For corporate customers, there is an array of corporate
applications for BlackBerry in the key business realms of sales force
automation, customer relationship management, field services, finance, legal,
government and other sectors. RIM has already partnered with Oracle, Siebel
Systems, Sybase, SAP etc.
Can you list some major concerns that CIOs might have in
extending and migrating their enterprises to a mobile environment?
Probably the number one IT issue facing CIOs is the problem of security.
Enterprises today look at a secure, reliable connection from many mobile devices
and control access to enterprise networks to ensure the integrity of the network
and the content that flows in and out of it.
The BlackBerry enterprise solution was created with corporate
data security in mind. It features an end-to-end security model that is designed
to seamlessly protect your corporate information from attacks as users send and
receive email and access data wirelessly. BlackBerry safeguards the integrity,
confidentiality and authenticity of your corporate data with a strong encryption
scheme.
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The
BlackBerry enterprise solution was created with corporate data security in
mind. It features an end-to-end security model |
How important is the device factor to the success of mobility
applications? How critical is the issue of device management policies and how
does BlackBerry address this issue?
Device form factor is important to the success of mobile or wireless
application deployment. A stable, stylish and user-friendly device wins easily
the interest and trust of end-users. But fancy and function-rich device can also
be difficult to manage. A mobile device connected to corporate data but outside
the firewall can be a wireless link of security and fatal to the company's
digital asset.
Device management has been a core value of BlackBerry. The IT
administer can lock or wipe a BlackBerry handheld via the policy of BlackBerry
enterprise server over the air. The communication between BlackBerry handheld
and BlackBerry enterprise server, which sits behind the corporate firewall, is
encrypted with Triple DES or AES. Local content protection on BlackBerry device
provides additional security measure to manage and safeguard data stored on the
device.
With our ongoing interactions with customers in India, we find
the awareness of device management is increasing. Device management, in fact, is
one of the key factors for enterprise considering going mobile.
What is the role of telcos in enabling enterprise mobility and
how critical is the involvement of telcos in RIM's overall business strategy?
Service providers are an important element in the ecosystem of enterprise
mobility. They own the networks and customer database. At RIM, we follow an
indirect business model, which leverages service provider's in-depth market
knowledge and RIM's expertise in communication technologies. We followed this
model to enter India. Airtel launched BlackBerry October 2004. The relationship
between RIM and Airtel has been fruitful from the initial launch of BlackBerry
in India to present. Airtel and BlackBerry have partnered to increase the
awareness of the BlackBerry brand and communicate the strength of the BlackBerry
platform and value for businesses in India.
How significant are location-based services (LBS) in the overall
mobility paradigm for the enterprises and how does BlackBerry cater to it?
The extension of LBS into the mobile environment is an important ingredient
in the expansion of enterprise applications within business sectors like
transportation and supply chain management. Location-based services are
definitely a key area which boost the adoption of wireless technology.
Shipra Arora
shipraa@cybermedia.co.in Page(s) 1
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