RIM Launches BlackBerry Mobile Fusion
In November 2011, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) announced that it would enter the multi-platform Mobile Device Management (MDM) market with the introduction of BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, the company’s next-generation enterprise mobility solution.
Just over four months later, RIM today officially launched BlackBerry Mobile Fusion and now offers a solution that provides support for its own BlackBerry Mobile devices, but also mobile device management capabilities for iOS and Android devices.
RIM touts Fusion as a cost-efficient, secure, reliable and scalable solution that consolidates the management of smartphones and tablets running BlackBerry OS as well as Android and iOS, through a single, unified, web-based console for easily managing all devices.
“For businesses and government, managing a mix of mobile devices on any scale is chaotic. Organizations face pressure to allow employees to bring their own devices into the workplace, and they are looking to RIM as the global leader in the enterprise mobility space to solve that problem,” said Alan Panezic, Vice President, Enterprise Product Management and Marketing at Research In Motion. “BlackBerry Mobile Fusion allows organizations to manage a mixed environment of devices in the most secure, simple, and cost efficient manner possible. It also means that businesses and government do not have to move to the lowest common denominator on security for all the devices they need to manage.”
According to RIM, BlackBerry Mobile Fusion integrates the features and security architecture of its BlackBerry Enterprise Server (version 5.0.3), providing advanced IT management and controls, a single outbound security connection (256-bit AES encrypted “BlackBerry VPN”), enforceable IT policies, support for BlackBerry Balance technology, and over-the-air app and software installation capabilities for the management of BlackBerry smartphones and PlayBook tablets.
BlackBerry Mobile Fusion provides the following mobile device management capabilities for supported mobile devices:
• Support for multiple devices per user
• Application and software management
• Connectivity management (Wi-Fi®, VPN, certificates)
• Centralized, easy to use, unified web-based console
• Security and policy definition and management
• Asset management
• Configuration management
• Security and protection for lost or stolen devices (remote lock, wipe)
• User- and group-based administration
• High scalability
Available immediately, the Mobile Fusion software is priced by the number of devices being managed. Client access licenses (CALs) start at $99 per user or $4 per user per month, with volume discounts are also available. In addition, RIM is offering a 60 day free trial.
More information on Mobile Fusion is available here.
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