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RIM Announces Software for Windows Mobile 6 Devices, i.e. the "Virtual BlackBerry"| April 25, 2007 | Enterprise Mobility - U.S. | Competitive Intelligence Report
On April 23rd Research In Motion (RIM) announced plans to offer a new virtual BlackBerry software application suite later this year for select Windows Mobile 6 devices that will include support for BlackBerry email, phone, calendar, address book, tasks, memos, browser, IM and other applications developed for the BlackBerry platform. Devices running the BlackBerry application suite will be able to connect to BlackBerry Enterprise Servers as well as BlackBerry Internet Service. Analytical Summary • Current Perspective: Slightly positive on RIM’s strategy of virtualizing the BlackBerry experience on top of Microsoft’s mobile OS and other vendors’ hardware, because it should enable RIM to grow the highest margin portion of its business. However, RIM must stay solidly ahead of the competition (especially Microsoft) in security, manageability and third party software development or it will quickly find all its new BlackBerry-on-Windows-Mobile users converted to ActiveSync-on-Windows Mobile accounts. • Vendor Importance: High to RIM, because over 70% of its revenue comes from hardware. RIM has been on a roll lately with the Pearl and 8800, and investment in virtualization software is not an indicator that the company believes its hardware roadmap is inadequate. However, long term it is not clear that a vertically integrated solution like RIM’s will be the preferred architecture; many other technologies moved to horizontal alignments once the market matured. In other words, businesses increasingly want diverse options, even if they also (badly) want improved ease-of-use and support. The BlackBerry Connect (BBC) program was intended to address this, but BBC suffers from poor feature support, and in some cases, a sub-par user experience. • Market Impact: Moderate to high on the enterprise mobility market, because by decoupling the choice of device from mobile email solution, RIM is changing the vertically integrated model it used to dominate – and grow – the mobile email market. Ironically, it could also help further fuel the growth of Windows Mobile, already a strong enterprise choice, thus partially eroding RIM’s software business. However, in the short term, most BlackBerry email users will remain BlackBerry hardware customers, especially if the virtual BlackBerry proves even moderately difficult to install, use, and maintain. Pricing is another open issue.
• Microsoft should welcome this with open arms and point out how the power and stability of the Windows Mobile platform is attracting all types of mobility solutions. It should then quietly develop a program to track users of the virtual BlackBerry software, and convert them to Exchange ActiveSync accounts over time. To do so, Microsoft will have to improve built-in security and policy-based management capabilities while highlighting the areas where the company is already ahead of RIM, such as HTML email and improved PIM/phone/email integration. • Symbian doesn’t care what email environment is used on top of its OS as long as it ships licenses. Therefore, Symbian should reach out to RIM saying, “Pick me next! Pick me next!” and offer RIM development assistance to port the BlackBerry suite to Symbian. • Motorola’s Good Technology division now has to prove not only that it is still a good choice for non-Motorola hardware, but also that it provides a better experience than BlackBerry on various device platforms as well as well as significant integration with database-oriented business process applications and robust security and policy management options. • Nokia’s Intellisync division has many of the same issues as Motorola’s Good division, and some of the same solutions. Nokia should concentrate on beating RIM to multinational accounts; one possible differentiator would be to do more integration of SMS threading into its suite, as European business users have adopted that version of messaging to a far greater degree than mobile email.
• Carriers should push hard to ensure that their revenue cut remains the same – pricing and availability remain open questions at this point – and then work with RIM to ensure distribution, setup and support issues are completely bulletproof. This scheme is complicated, with plenty of opportunities to send support costs soaring. • IT managers interested in broadening the choice of their users – and who don’t want to support native Windows Mobile devices today – must take a wait and see attitude towards the new software announcement. For now, it is vaporware, with no firm pricing or release date. Once it is available, there is no telling what the user experience will be like. |
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