Research In Motion announced yesterday their plans for Blackberry Mobile Fusion which will become their first step into the multi-platform Mobile Device Management (MDM) marketplace. This will enable IT departments to effectively manage various devices running different operating systems such as Android,  iOS, or RIM’s own BBOS all under the umbrella of RIM’s BES (Business Enterprise Service). 

The management software will allow IT departments to manage both enterprise owned devices as will an employee’s own. It’s good to see RIM making an effort to innovate in the environment in which they have the most experience in as well as being their most concrete customers. However what this does prove is that RIM notices that employees are moving towards other smartphones for both work and personal use, moving away from the tried and true Blackberry corporate devices. The management software will also build on the RIM’s current BES offerings and will add features like BlackBerry® Balance™ technology, which “supports the use of a single device for both work and personal purposes without compromisnig the organization’s need to secure, manage, and control confidential information”, and others including “over 500 IT policies; over-the-air app and software installation and management; high availability; and much more”.

It seems RIM is taking a page from their previously leaked future vision video we posted not too long ago, in terms of IT management and the ability to add secure applications on the fly and remotely. This is definitely a good step for RIM in ensuring their presence within the mobile industry even if their smartphone sales are not up to the level of competitors.

To read more check out the full press release below, and a link to their website just below that where you can sign up for updates on the Blackberry Mobile Fusion software.

RIM Announces BlackBerry Mobile Fusion – The Next Generation Enterprise Mobility Solution for BlackBerry, Android and iOS Smartphones and Tablets
Simplifies Management of Smartphones and Tablets for Business and Government

Waterloo, ON – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) today introduced BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion – the Company’s next-generation enterprise mobility solution and RIM’s entry into the multi-platform Mobile Device Management (MDM) marketplace. Building on years of leading enterprise mobility management solutions from RIM, BlackBerry Mobile Fusion will simplify the management of smartphones and tablets running BlackBerry®, Google® Android® and Apple® iOS® operating systems.

“We are pleased to introduce BlackBerry Mobile Fusion – RIM’s next generation enterprise mobility solution – to make it easier for our business and government customers to manage the diversity of devices in their operations today,” said Alan Panezic, Vice President, Enterprise Product Management and Marketing at Research In Motion. “BlackBerry Mobile Fusion brings together our industry-leading BlackBerry Enterprise Server technology for BlackBerry devices with mobile device management capabilities for iOS and Android devices, all managed from one web-based console. It provides the necessary management capabilities to allow IT departments to confidently oversee the use of both company-owned and employee-owned mobile devices within their organizations.”

RIM is the leading provider of enterprise mobility solutions with over 90 percent of the Fortune 500 provisioning BlackBerry devices today. The enterprise market for smartphones and tablets continues to grow in both the company-provisioned and employee-owned (Bring Your Own Device or BYOD) categories. BYOD in particular has led to an increase in the diversity of mobile devices in use in the enterprise and new challenges for CIOs and IT departments as they struggle to manage and control wireless access to confidential company information on the corporate network. This has resulted in increased demand for mobile device management solutions.

BlackBerry Mobile Fusion brings together the market-leading BlackBerry® Enterprise Server (version 5.0.3) for BlackBerry smartphones; new management capabilities for BlackBerry PlayBook tablets built on BlackBerry Enterprise Server technology; and mobile device management for smartphones and tablets running Android and iOS operating systems.

BlackBerry Mobile Fusion will provide the following mobile device management capabilities for all supported mobile devices*:

• Asset management
• Configuration management
• Security and policy definition and management
• Secure and protect lost or stolen devices (remote lock, wipe)
• User- and group-based administration
• Multiple device per user capable
• Application and software management
• Connectivity management (Wi-Fi®, VPN, certificate)
• Centralized console
• High scalability

BlackBerry smartphones will continue to benefit from the many advantages of the end-to-end BlackBerry solution including the same advanced IT management, security and control available with BlackBerry Enterprise Server 5.0.3, which is part of BlackBerry Mobile Fusion. These advanced features include BlackBerry® Balance™ technology supporting the use of a single device for both work and personal purposes without compromising the organization’s need to secure, manage and control confidential information; over 500 IT policies; over-the-air app and software installation and management; high availability; and much more. BlackBerry Mobile Fusion will also introduce new self-service functionality for employees to secure lost or stolen BlackBerry smartphones and BlackBerry PlayBook tablets.

BlackBerry Mobile Fusion is currently in early beta testing with select enterprise customers. RIM is now accepting customer nominations for the closed beta program which will start in January, and general availability is expected in late March.

For more information, visit www.blackberry.com/mobilefusion.